


The First and the Last

by WavesBlade



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Can't spell slaughter without laughter, Deception, Emotional Manipulation, F/M, Manipulation, Mind Manipulation, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Possessive Behavior, Temptation, Time Travel | Suspended Animation, Treachery, Unhealthy Relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-06
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2020-11-26 03:28:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 24,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20923418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WavesBlade/pseuds/WavesBlade
Summary: Darth Zannah was the first Sith Apprentice of the Rule of Two, a powerful Sith Sorceress, and incredibly selfish. Rather than be usurped, she faked her death and put herself in suspended animation. Almost a thousand years later, in the Clone Wars, Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker finds a woman in stasis, a Jedi Shadow by the name of Rain, when chasing after Asajj Ventress...





	1. Awaken Deception

Finding a Secret hideout behind a waterfall in some Force-forsaken swamp-world chasing after Ventress.

What had Anakin Skywalker done to deserve _this_?

The swampwater was in his _hair_ now.

Gross.

"Glad I've got a bucket sir," said Rex, watching Anakin as he grimaced and yanked pieces of goop out of his hair.

"Yeah, must be nice," he said flatly, "Comm Ahsoka and tell her to keep a squad by the entrance, it only looks like Ventress had one way in. Lets keep her boxed and capture the damn harpy."

Rex nodded, pulling away briefly to do so.

Anakin frowned as he looked into the dark hallway of the hideout, the doors sabered open with molten lines from Ventress's lightsabers. He has a bad feeling about this, and that was Obi-Wan's line. Like, not bad, but absolutely catastrophic, the Force is swirling and twisting. Like when he fights Dooku, or from what he recalls when he was a boy, staring at Darth Maul in the Theed Hanger and feeling that rage he didn't understand. Except... it was worse. So much worse, like it was etched into the walls of this place.

"Eyes peeled boys," warned Anakin, "This place has Sith written all over it."

_Hurry hurry hurry..._

The hair on the back of his neck stands straight up. The Force is whispering, but slowly building louder and louder. He's running out of time for something, he doesn't know what.

_GO!_

Anakin swore, "Forget that, we need to move!"

"Sir?" called out Rex.

"Force thing!" he called back.

Rex sighed and waved the rest of the squad forward. "When the Jedi get weird, roll with it."

Anakin grinned as he kept on moving; he loved his men, he really did. He schools his face as he follows the Force's alarmed guidance deeper and deeper into the hideout, through one sabered door after the other, and then he senses Ventress, and locks onto her. Finally, he bursts into a dimly lit room...

He grinds to a halt, finding Ventress furiously typing away at a panel next to what looked like some kind of suspended animation field, the kind used for incredibly dangerous prisoners. Inside it is a short middle-aged blonde haired woman with pale white skin, black tear shaped tatoos going above and below her eyes, in a skin-tight black jumpsuit. His first thought is to whistle, because... nope, nope, he is happily married, _not_ going there. Then he thinks with his head, and alarm goes through it. Whoever the hell this is, Ventress wants them awake.

"Yes _yes_ **yes**," rambled Ventress, a beep from the panel, "Its _her_, its actually _her_. My Master was _right_. _Zannah_... the first..."

Who the hell was Zannah? "Away from the console Ventress."

Ventress turns her head and jabs a button, victory radiating off her in waves. Whoever this is... she's making Ventress think she had won, despite being completely and utterly caged in. Anakin watched as the field flickered and dimmed. The unknown woman pitched forward, and Ventress didn't even bother to catch the woman. Except, blue eyes flew open and she caught herself, grunting as she nearly faceplanted. She groaned and clutched at her head, eyes blinking in confusion and wariness. Anakin... couldn't feel a damn think in the Force about her. Almost like she didn't exist in it, probably some crazy mental shields.

_Snap-hiss._

Ventress took a step forward to cover the woman, activating her lightsaber. "Orient yourself quickly Lord Zannah. I'll hold them off."

The woman glances up at Ventress, and then at Anakin as he activates his lightsaber, and for a moment, he thought he felt something probe him. Then the woman's eyes go wide with surprise, a sense of -_what power!_\- seeming to come off her in regards to him. For a moment, there was darkness, icy and sickly in a way Anakin couldn't fathom, coming from everywhere and nowhere that he cant pin down, but then he feels it suddenly vanish, and its place is a... strange uneven light around the woman's presence as she drops whatever shields she was using. She holds out a hand, and from somewhere in the room flies a long lightsaber, likely a saberstaff. The woman catches it, igniting to reveal an almost red purple blade, that she then drives right through Ventress's back.

"Fell for the trap, Sith," mocked the woman.

Ventress stands there for a moment in shock before shakily looking backwards at the woman. There is silence, an almost silent communication, and when Ventress turns her head forward, there's is a sickly smile on her face. Then the unknown woman withdraws her lightsaber, and Ventress crumples forward dead.

Anakin slow blinked. "What the hells..."

"Name's Rain," said the woman, deactivating her lightsaber and before saluting, "Shadow of the Army of Light under Lord Hoth."

Anakin gapes at her. "Under..."

He had studied history. "That was almost a thousand years ago!"

Rain blinked, startled. "Uh... what? Why the kriff didn't anyone come wake me up before now?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Why by the Force did I wake up to a face full of Sith? The goal was to wipe them out at Ruusan, did things not go according to plan?"

"Er..., its kind of a long story," murmured Anakin, fidgeting on his feet under her intense stare, "As for now, we're kind of in a war..."

Rain put a hand on her hip and sighed. "Some things never change it seems."

"With due respect ma'am," asked Rex, stepping forward, just a hint of suspicion in his voice, "What are you doing in a Sith hideout? Why was Ventress trying to wake you up, calling you this 'Zannah'?"

"Easy Rex," said Anakin, putting an arm on his shoulder, "Her presence is light."

"His caution is good," countered Rain with approval, "Hard to know who to trust. As for your question, it was a bait operation, there were a few stragglers that we were trying to catch and make sure they couldn't get away, tempting them with hints and allusions to a powerful Sith Lord called Zannah kept in stasis as a secret weapon," her voice turned sour, "Only it looks like the Sith never took the bait, and no one bothered to come and wake me up."

She frowned thoughtfully. "Or well, I guess a Sith **_DID_ **take the bait, just... a thousand years late."

Maybe that's why the Force was telling him to hurry, if he'd been to late, Ventress might have figured it out and killed her, there's no way the woman would be at her best if she'd spent that long in stasis. Physically maybe she'd be okay, but not in the Force.

Rex snorted and clapped Anakin's shoulder. "Your kind of Jedi then, sir, since half of your plans end up with you or the commander being bait or springing a trap."

That got a grin out of the woman as Anakin gave Rex a mock glare.

"Your plan seems a bit extreme with a lot that could have, and apparently did, go wrong," said Anakin, returning to give the woman a puzzled look.

The woman shrugged. "It is what it is, I follow the Council's, and Lord Hoth's orders."

Anakin made a sour face. "Yeah... I hear that. Half the bantha shit they pull never makes any sense to me, safe to say that hasn't changed in the last thousand years."

There is an interested gleam in the woman's eye. "You don't say? Tell me, what's your name?"

"Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, general of the 501st battalion of the Open Circle Fleet," he answered.

That makes her eyes furrow. "Hmm. Full fledged war against the Sith then?"

He shakes his head. "Not... not like you'd be used to. Much smaller number of Sith, they're fighting the Republic with a droid army."

Rain hums. "I see. Catch me up later, I want _out_ of this hellhole."

"I hear that," agreed Anakin, "You uh... got clothes anywhere? Temperature is kind of cold outside for just that."

"Not anything I prefer," whined the woman, "Its a set-up Sith hideout, its all Sith reds and blacks."

"I got a spare set of clothes on the Resolute," offered Anakin, "For now, he's my robe."

He offers her the outer robe, and she takes it, sheltering her small frame inside the brown robes... which are a bit big for her. She kicks out from it a little childishly. "Being born small sucks."

Anakin grins. "If you think I'm tall, you should have seen my grandmaster."

His smile dims a bit at the thought of Qui-Gon. "Alright, lets book it. Rex, keep a guard around Rain, a thousand years of stasis might not cripple the body, the Force however she's going to need time to readjust with, don't know if Ventress left any surprises and I'd rather keep our VIP safe."

"Yes sir," said Rex, "What about Ventress?"

"Someone grab her lightsabers, otherwise, leave her," said Anakin flatly.

Let Ventress rot in this hellhole for all he cares.

They strode out of the dark room, and Rain poses a question. "So... Rex was it? Republic army or draftee? You don't feel like Jedi Corps."

"Army ma'am," answered Rex, "I'm captain of the 501st under General Skywalker along with the rest of my vode."

"Vode," tastes the Woman, before her voice fills with dry amusement, "That's Mando'a, right? Mandalore's working with the Republic these days?"

"Uh... that's... complicated," answered Anakin, "Short answer, not the way you think."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Umm... clone army with a Mandalorian bounty hunter as a template," he offers.

"_What_?"

"Nice explanation, sir," said Rex.

"Long story, its complicated," answered Anakin.

"What in the hells have I woken up to," lamented Rain, "I'm going to need a very thorough briefing at some point."

"Yeah, you'll get one," said Anakin, "Don't worry about that. I'm sure the Council's going to love you."

"Hmm, I'll take your word for it," said Rain with skepticism.

Oh, he liked this one. It was refreshing to see more doubt in the Council, even if it wasn't the same Council. They meet Ahsoka and her squad outside the waterfall, and she gives Rain a curious look. "Whose this?"

"Jedi Shadow from a thousand years ago left in stasis," said Anakin, watching her eyes go wide, "Lets go, gawk later padawan."

Ahsoka nods and schools her expression. "Transport's where we left it."

They move to go, but he stops when he notes Rain stopped moving, the woman's eyes furrowed; he asked with a little impatience, "What is it?"

"I don't feel any other sentient life on the planet," she murmurs.

"Yeah? So?" he asks before blinking, "Oh, I guess there was in your time?"

Rain is rather... quiet, there is an air of unexpected loss around her. "Somov Rit was my homeworld."

This dump had a name?

He immediately banishes the thought as he gets what she's talking about, feeling a bit of shame. It was her homeworld, and there's no living person left on it anymore. "I'm sorry."

She shrugged and muttered, "I'll find out what happened later. Lets go."

He nods, and they make their way back to the transport, lifting off. Judging by the ammount of swamp goop clinging to the robe around Rain, he's going to burn it. He knows from experience cleaning out swamp gunk is an absolute pain in the ass.

"So... you seem rather attached to your homeworld," asked Ahsoka, curious.

Anakin closed his eyes and wanted to bang his head against the hull. Don't bring up painful sensitive topics Snips, c'mon...

"Lived there the first ten years of my life before me and my cousins were recruited by the Jedi," answered Zannah.

Anakin jolts a bit at that. "You were taken into the Order even older than I was at nine standard."

"Your point?" asked Rain, a tad confused.

"Right... oh, oh boy," said Anakin, running his hands through his hair, "I'm not the one going to explain the Ruusan Reformation to you. The Jedi Order you know and the Jedi Order of today are... a _bit_ different."

Rain frowns intently. "Why would my age of recruitment matter?"

"Jedi are raised nearly from birth in the Order," answered Ahsoka, looking at Anakin with fascination.

Oh, oh great. Right. He hadn't told her about how old he had been.

"They're _what_?" exclaimed Rain, she nearly starts to her feet before sitting back down, an unsettled look on her face, "Why?"

"To lessen the chances of falling to the Dark Side by limiting attachment and making sure Jedi are raised properly within the tenants of the Code," answered Ahsoka.

Rain's lips purse thinly, and her Force presence bristles with... with something both hot and cold. Her feelings on what was said are very easy to read, ground in when she speaks. "So they're indoctrinated from birth then?"

The sudden hush that comes over the transport is intense. All of his men are staring at Rain in surprise and mortification. Anakin swallows thickly, drawing his Force presence in, because this is something he hates thinking about, that makes him squirm inside and shakes all his childhood dreams about the Jedi. Rain's eyes flicker to him, noting the change, and Anakin cant meet her eyes. Force... he can't meet them because deep down he agrees. Its one of the things that absolutely repels him about the Jedi.

Ahsoka's jaw drops. "That's... that not what it is!"

"It's what it sounds to _me_," said Rain flatly, "I knew my family, it was my love, my _attachment_, to my cousins that saw me drawn into the Army of Light, and that in itself certainly didn't drive me dark."

There's something in her wording that tugs at Anakin, he's not sure what, but he shakes it away, he wants to be anywhere but here having this conversation... except...

"I knew my mom too," said Anakin softly, "She... was the kindest person in the Galaxy."

"Was?" asked Rain, quieting.

Anakin doesn't answer.

Rain nodded in understanding. "I suppose my cousins, my family are gone too."

Anakin aches with that, because he _knows_ that pain.

Rain sighs. "I have a feeling I'm not going to like the Jedi Order of this day and age if that change is anything to go by. Do all the temple's follow this... age restriction?"

"All the... uh, unless you're counting the Corellian Temple, its just the temple on Coruscant," said Anakin.

Rain frowned. "The Order centralized in one spot?"

"Yeah."

"That's kriffing ridiculous, what if the Sith did an orbital bombardment?" asked Rain critically, "There goes most of the Order in one fell swoop. That change is tactically _stupid_."

Anakin winced at the thought of it. Even Ahsoka looked squeamish. Neither of them deny it though, because that's something Dooku probably wouldn't hesitate to do if he got the chance.

Rain swore under her breath. "I want a datapad the moment after I get out of a fresher and into a new pair of clothes, I need to look at this 'Ruusan Reformation'."

"You're probably not going to like most of it," mumbled Anakin.

"No, I'm probably not," said Rain sourly, "What the kriff is wrong with the Order? What was Hoth thinking?"

"He umm... kind of died at the last battle of Ruusan," answered Anakin.

Rain ground her teeth. "So what, a bunch of busybody council members came up with these rules and changes? Not the Jedi who lived, breathed, and died to stop the Sith? Did _any_ of the Jedi Lord's have a say in this?"

Anakin stares at Rain with a awed fascination, because holy shit, he wants to put her in front of the Jedi Council and watch her tear them a new one. She's on the fast track to become his favorite Jedi after Obi-Wan and Ahsoka. She's sounding... sounding a lot like what he originally imagined Jedi to be. "I don't know a lot of the politics of that era..."

Rain waves a hand. "Not screaming at you Skywalker, just... I'm going to need a looooong adjustment period."

He nods in understanding, a little relieved. "I understand, going from sl... from Tatooine to the Temple was a long adjustment for me to."

Rain huffed and muttered, "Temple huh? At least you weren't dumped right into battle."

Anakin blinked once, blinked twice, and then exploded. "You were _what_? At ten years old? Untrained?!"

Rain's taken aback by his anger, her eyes going wide, before she nods. "My cousins and I were, yes. The Jedi and Sith we're both grabbing children from various worlds, so it was an arms race."

Her face twisted. "An arms race of children."

Anakin's stomach is a sickly knot. "Force..."

He wants to time travel.

He wants to time travel and stab people in the face with his lightsaber.

Because its bad enough with Ahsoka being out here so young. Which leads his thoughts back to Jabimm and the Padawan Pack...

He aches, he aches horribly.

No Padawan should be in a war, and especially no kriffing untrained ten year old girl.

There's a bemused look on her face. "Got blown out of my transport ship on the way to my first battle, I tell you that was _fun_. Survived on my own for awhile, that apparently would make me good material for the Shadows."

Anakin took a deep breath, and slowly let it out. "Apparently."

He's not sure if Jedi recruitment methods improved or got worse since then.

Rain shook her head, letting a soft sigh escape her lips. "The past is the past I suppose, not really a choice but to move on."

Anakin nods in agreement even if deep down his mother's loss and all the scars on his back from the whips still ache. In her, he can see the same thing, even if she keeps it down like he does. Its an air of comradery he... frankly... just hasn't felt in the Jedi at all. He may like Obi-Wan as his friend, his teacher, his father figure even if the man would never call himself that, but... Obi-Wan was the _perfect Jedi_. Not flawed like Anakin, like Rain. He decides he's going to keep an eye on Rain, and if possible, get her assigned to the 501st. Though... she's a Shadow, she might get nabbed for something else, but she's a thousand years out of date with Jedi methodology...

He supposed he'd have to see.

* * *

_"When you make a lie, you stick with it. Embellish it, make a story around it that can't be easily broken. Mix it with as many truths to stabilize it as you can. Create explanations that cover anything that might seem off, and hold that lie for as long as possible and milk it for all its worth. Embrace the lie and let it become your identity. When its use is done, cast it off, but if possible, don't destroy it. You never know when you might need to adopt an old persona again."_

Darth Zannah hums to herself as the fresher's water splashes down on her face and body, recalling an old lesson she had once taught to her apprentice, and that she had often used herself. The old 'I'm a Jedi Shadow' story had worked several times in her life. She's not sure if forcing her knowledge as pre-Ruusan Reformation instead of post was the right bet at first, but something about the Jedi told her it was the right call to make. She sighs with contentedness at the warm water, running a hand down her face, over her breasts, down her stomach, and lets her arms fall away as the thrum of being awake and conscious again goes through her and it feels so good. It had been a very long time since she had made her choice, her selfish choice, but her choice non the less, to play dead, faking her death, and letting Darth Cognus take the reigns when her apprentice had started to eye that three-eyed freak as her own potential apprentice in secret.

Its not that she had feared dying, or feared her apprentice, but the Sith needed a backup plan incase the Rule of Two was ever broken. Might have robed Cognus of truly earning the right of being a Sith Master by killing one, but eh, devil was in the details, she trained the Iktotchi well enough. And what perfect back-up plan than Zannah herself? Arrogant perhaps, but since she'd managed to off the old bastard Bane herself, she deserved whatever the hell she wanted. It was her _right_ as Dark Lord of the Sith. Of course, things didn't seem to have gone according to _plan_.

She had crafted spells with her sorcery to wake her up if the Line of Bane was ever broken. She had also left clues that if ever a Master died to early in the training of an apprentice, leaving their training unfinished, there were ways for the apprentice to find Zannah if they went looking for knowledge, so the Rule of Two could be rekindled. In those first few seconds when she sensed a darksider after being abruptly woken up, she thought it had been that, and then she had focused and identified the situation as it was and made a decision:

Being woken up by some idiot acolyte with the Jedi _right there_ was a level of stupidity worthy of immediate execution. Especially when said Jedi was literally the most powerful Force Sensitive she had _ever_ felt. He was thankfully a bit gullible, and believed her readily with just a shaky false Aura of Light put up and a smooth story and explanation. He was full of so much pain and suffering in his past, she could feel it etched into him; so much emotion too. A dislike of the Jedi Council and several ways of the Jedi that conflicted with him. Obviously a little of an outsider if he broke the age restrictions. Perhaps most enticing was the darkness in him hidden underneath.

Anakin Skywalker had murdered before.

"Mmmm," murmured Zannah, slowly dragging her tongue across her lips.

She'd have to do a bit more study of Skywalker, the situation of the Galaxy, and figure out what the hell was going on with the Line of Bane that had caused her to be awoken, not to mention that the Sith had apparently revealed themselves, but... she wanted Skywalker as her apprentice. so powerful... he could become the greatest Sith ever born, a much grander legacy that Cognus. However, Zannah probably wouldn't be able to go back into stasis this time, Skywalker was already stronger than her, than Bane, at least in the Force. It was a matter of the control and knowledge she could offer him that would stay his hand from killing her when he became the apprentice and desired mastery.

She wasn't going to be stupid like Bane had been and assume she could Transfer Essence into Skywalker and win, though it was so damn tempting...

Thoughts for later. She scrubbed herself off, exited, put on the Jedi robes Skywalker had left her, and settled down on the floor to meditate. First things first, she needed to re-attune herself to the Force of this day and age. Second, she needed to fix that shoddy quick job of a false Aura of Light she had put up. It needed to be up to par to withstand the scrutiny of a Jedi Council if she were brought before them, and to withstand the scrutiny of a Sith Lord if one of them were nosy. Third, once she was properly shrouded, she needed to poke the Dark Side a bit and see what she could sense of her time and the future...


	2. Starting Steps

Anakin found Rain laying on her bunk, snuggled in, head nestled in her pillow, one leg draped over the other, reading the datapad he had left her earlier with his spare robes. He took a moment to stare at her, how lazed about she was like almost no Jedi would be caught doing. He could imagine the lecture now; 'A Jedi must be proper'. There was a mixture of exasperation, calculation, and an unusual kind of dark amusement vary rarely ever seen on a Jedi's face. He wondered, as a Jedi from the era of there actually being armies of Sith, what kind of failings did she see in the Reformation to give her that look?

What she'd said on the transport up still rung fresh in his mind, she was already largely unimpressed.

"Still reading?"

She briefly looked up, made eye contact for acknowledgement that he appreciated, and then looked back down. "Do you know how many sub-sections there are in the Reformation?"

"History wasn't my best class," he said. Well, outside of when he first learned to read, then he had scoured the archives, hungry for any instance of the Jedi fighting slavery, and finding far less than he had hoped. It wasn't as if they did nothing, they had taken on the Zygarians a long while back, but aside from when slavers messed up and got caught, or it became hard to miss _inside_ the Republic, they didn't do enough. There was that one undercover mission Siri Tachi had been on way back when that he had kinda messed up (_oops_), aside from that the Jedi hadn't done anything big like that in a long while to his knowledge.

He felt a pang of sadness at the reminder of the now dead Jedi Knight, he had liked Siri.

"So, what do you like the least about it?" he asked in a teasing tone.

"Aside from the entire thing?" she said flatly.

"Well that's kind of cheating if you say that," he said, grinning.

"Then I choose the fact that its still in place," she decided on, "You said its known about the Sith, right?"

"Umm...," Did the Senate know Dooku was a Sith? Or did they think he was a Fallen Jedi? Can't really remember.

"Doesn't matter," said Rain with a flap of her hand, "The point is, the Jedi are leading armies again, in complete defiance of the Ruusan Reformation, at the request of the Senate. Why don't they just _repeal_ it?"

"I guess they want to go back to the way things were before the war after?" he offered.

"That's called complacency," said Rain in a disgusted tone, a soft growl in the back of her throat that made the hair on the back of Anakin's neck stand up, "It gets people killed. It makes you ignore lessons you should learn and causes you to repeat them all over again down the road. It makes you look away from things that need to be dealt with rather than actually fixing problems. It makes you commit travesties just so you can cling to pathetic traditions."

"Complacency," snarled Rain, "Is the enemy of _everything_ I believe in."

It rippled in the Force from her, that this is beyond truth, that this woman hates complacency in a way Jedi are _not_ supposed to hate. The way he hates slavery, the way he hates Sand People.

"Bad experience?" he asks quietly, a little unsettled to see himself reflected in someone else.

She looks up at him in consideration, her eyes judging, almost... predatory. "For me? I know better. For others? I've watched it destroy countless people, groups, organizations..."

She shook her head. "You get the idea. I could spend weeks lecturing on complacency, while its _useful_ in your enemies, and believe me it is, I've won many struggles through my opponents complacency, its never good for yourself or those you deem allies. Take war for example, a simple thing I've seen before, patrols get complacent and get completely blindsided by a surprise attack, which leads to more people dying than it would have if the attack had been caught and repelled."

"The Vodes better than that, but I get your point," said Anakin in consideration.

He officially decided he liked this Jedi. Not a sit on your ass kind like some of the Council and masters. She could relax like she was now, but it was in her body, a subtle sensation of energy, that she could and would spring into action in a moment's notice. Well, all Jedi could really, but few vibrated with it like she did, like Anakin himself was sure he did. Though her hatred of complacency... differed from his hatreds, his were personal, hers... seemed philosophical, not that he grudged her for it, not that he'd wish her hatred to have been personal. He wouldn't wish his suffering on anyone. Hells, she probably had her own sufferings, she'd been in the last war with the Sith.

"Whats it like fighting Sith of old?" he asked.

That caught her offguard for a moment. "Why do you ask?"

"I mean... I've fought Dooku, got my ass handed to me," he said sourly, holding up his mechanical arm, "I kind of want to know how they compare."

She blinked at it, a little surprised, and then self-chastising. "Wow, I can't believe I missed that. I'm usually more observant."

"Still getting your bearings," he said, offering her an excuse.

"Something like that," she admitted sheepishly before turning thoughtful, "So... the Sith is called Darth Dooku? That's an... odd name."

Anakin snickered, because that did sound kind of funny to him. "No, he's just called Count Dooku, former Jedi Master turned Sith within the last decade or so."

Her face goes cold and calculating in a way that throws him. "Interesting."

He blinks at her because _-holy shit-_, when she goes serious, she's _serious_.

She studied him for a long moment. "You don't know his Sith name then, do you?"

Anakin hesitated, he'd done some study of the past, he know most Sith changed their name, but..., "Not all Sith have one I thought? Exar Kun didn't get a new name."

She tilted her head in acknowledgement, a small smile of defeat on her face. "Well, that's a fair point."

He smiled a little, because rather than belittle him, twist the words to make him wrong, telling him he should know his place rather than backtalk, or tell only grudgingly acknowledge he was right, she just straight up admitted he was right and agreed. He... really missed that. Its not that all Jedi were condescending asses, just... it seemed like he ended up on the wrong end of those ones _all the time_. That they seemed to go out of their way to make him feel small so he didn't 'get a big head and 'go all arrogant'. It was... really frustrating.

She leaned her head back and stared at the ceiling in thought for a moment. "Hmm. There are exceptions to that, I suppose its pointless speculation since I know nothing about Count Dooku, but, perhaps you'd find the knowledge interesting."

He moved to sit on the edge of the bed, eager to learn. "So much of the Sith is under wraps, a Knight knows so little on the enemy we're supposed to oppose."

That got a dry scoff out of her. "How are you expected to fight them then?"

"I know, right?!" he exclaimed.

Finally! Someone with the right mindset!

"Ancient Sith, far before my time, rarely if ever took up new names," said Rain, "Marka Ragnos wasn't called Darth Ragnos for example, neither was Freedon Nadd called Darth Nadd. They bore the title Dark Lord of the Sith, but weren't Darths, and didn't change their names."

She frowned a little. "I think Darth Andeddu was the first to bear the title actually, though to my knowledge that was his actual name. So it existed in the original Sith Empire, just wasn't as wildly used. I think it steadily increased until it was a tradition for the Sith."

Anakin swallowed, his throat dry. "I've... never heard of any of those names before."

There was a tight, thin line of displeasure on her face. "So much for 'there is no ignorance, there is knowledge'."

He couldn't help snickering at that... except, she wasn't laughing. So he trailed off. She was legitimately displeased, _angry_, about there being no knowledge about the Sith.

"I suppose the Sith would be happy that the Jedi don't really know anything about the Sith anymore, that they can't fight them anymore, but... to completely forget them? To bury their memory outside, I imagine, horror stories?" she said sourly.

He nodded. "Its mostly as lessons, a Sith Lord's name, an atrocity to go with it as an example of what the Dark Side does to a person, and nothing else."

"A different form of complacency then," said Rain in a nasty tone, "You learn much from studying your enemies, even if its just how to counter their abilities. You deny yourself knowledge by denying the existence of your opponents."

She studied him thoughtfully for a moment before asking bluntly, "Do you know how to counter one of the most basic Sith abilities? Force Lightning?"

He blinked. "You can block it with your lightsaber, I um... I think I saw Grandmaster Yoda catch it in his hands once? I was kind of out of it at the time, not sure if I hallucinated that. Even if I didn't, its _Yoda_."

"So outside of the Jedi _Grandmaster_, no one really knows how to handle Force Lightning?" she asked in slowly rising anger, "That's..."

She rose from her bunk in a snarl and started pacing, muttering under her breath.

"Could... could most Jedi in your time do that?" he asked quietly, half feeling-half wondering how badly he compared to them. He hated feeling inadequate.

"Most? Not exactly, they were prepared and briefed on what to expect so they weren't completely incapacitated by it, but countering and negating Force Lightning was a Jedi Consular thing more often than not, some Sentinels and Shadows could do it," she answered.

Anakin tenses, angry and humiliated as his first experience with Force Lightning, how _entirely_ unprepared for it he was, goes through his mind. "When I got hit by it... I was knocked out of the fight for way to long. My Master nearly died because of that, then I had to fight alone, still reeling from it, and lost my arm."

She studied him for a moment. "Perfect example then."

He looked away for a few seconds before looking back. "Could... could you counter it?"

"Yes," she answered.

"Could you teach me how to?" he asked.

* * *

Oh Skywalker... was he really making it this easy? Zannah was just a tad amazed that he was basically hand feeding himself into her palm like this.

"And... could you tell me more about the Sith?" asked Anakin, "The Jedi say I'm supposed to be the Chosen One, yet I hardly know anything about the Sith I'm supposed to destroy!"

"You're the what?" she asked.

"There's some stupid prophecy," he mumbles.

She can feel conflicting emotions from him, that he both doesn't and does believe in this 'Prophecy'. Its also the cause of an extreme amount of turmoil and stress in his life, that she feels as well. She wondered just how young he had learned of the prophecy, because these emotions ran _deep_. Not so sure adding that kind of pressure to a padawan was a smart idea, or the arrogance that comes with such a thing; oh well, Jedi's loss, her gain. Though, she's wracking her brain, wondering, what prophecy is he talking about? Depending on what specific Force Sect or even branch of the Jedi, there were potentially _hundreds_ of them.

"Which is?" she asked.

"I've never actually read it, the few times I've asked, I've just been told I'm supposed to 'bring Balance to the Force'," he said, his voice turning scornful and mocking, waving a hand through the air, "Whatever the kriff that's supposed to mean."

Oh.

That one.

Curious...

"Why do they think you're this 'Chosen One'?" she asked.

"Because Qui-Gon, as much as I respected him, was an idiot and took mom's words at face value," he said sourly.

"I don't follow."

He looked extremely uncomfortable, his mood is plummeting rapidly, the Force starting to tint in darker hues. "Qui-Gon Jinn was the Jedi who found me, Mom told him there was no father, that she couldn't explain how her pregnancy happened. So the Jedi think I was conceived by the Force. But I'm not stupid, and I wasn't stupid back then."

His emotions _roil_ in a way that Zannah has to tighten her shields not to be crushed by. "My mother was a _slave_, she had no control over what happened to her. She just didn't want to admit it."

His shields are tightening, a dark storm starting to ripple in the Force around him, objects in the room rattling. Zannah is tense, because _-holy shit-_ Skywalker is so stupidly powerful that he could overwhelm and destroy someone purely on accident with his feelings if he wasn't careful. She should leave it for now, she doesn't want to get mentally burned, yet... its a moment of vulnerability, to potentially push him closer to the Dark, and gain more trust with him, so she carefully reaches for his shields...

And finds hidden holes in them oozing hints of a masked dark presence.

She goes numb for a moment in shock, though she really shouldn't have been surprised, with that power he was a target for conversion or destruction. Another Sith Lord has already been mentally manipulating Skywalker, and considering the pathways into Skywalker's mind, they had been manipulating him for years. Its most likely not Dooku since Skywalker alluded to Dooku's fall being more recent. So, Dooku was either the current Apprentice, or just a tool/stand in. The Sith Master, whoever they were, had eyes on Skywalker. If she wanted him, she'd have to challenge that hold to claim him.

She resisted the urge to smile in predatory delight, and in anticipation. Challenging Darth Bane had been the single most difficult, exhilarating, and terrifying event of her entire life. Something she regretted having taken so long to do, since it had given him time to learn Transfer Essence and nearly allowed him to body snatch her. The single moment when he had struggled to destroy her mind and soul had, admittedly, given her nightmares for years. This time though, she will readily rise to the occasion. If the current Sith Master can't stop her from wrestling Skywalker away and defeat her, then he isn't worthy of the title. She hadn't been awoken for the right reason she imagines, but perhaps, as the first successor of the Rule of Two, she ought to test her descendants and see if they are up to par.

Zannah slips in along those passages into Skywalker's mind and nudges him. '_Tell her, you can trust in her_'.

There is so much pain and shame and anger and anguish in his voice. "I-I... I'm probably a... a _rape_ _baby_."

He's shaking, his face is contorted, there is so much regret emanating from him that he spoke it. Skywalker has an absolutely absurd amount of emotional trauma and damage and self-doubt. Considering his mother had been a slave, he most likely had been one too, and since he said he had been recruited into the Jedi at age nine, he had been a slave for those nine years. The best part of this?

Its _**ALL** _untreated.

If he'd been to any kind of therapy or mind healing for it, she'd be shocked, because if he had it hadn't done a damn thing for him. This in turn compounds into more personality issues, or learning lessons wrong from the Jedi, or completely disregarding them. Its also potentially a problem that has to be carefully managed. Because she wants an apprentice, not an unstable waste of space. If Skywalker loses himself to mental instability, or is crippled by his past, then he's useless to her and to the Sith. She wants a _successor_, not a _pet_ after all.

She walks over to him and pulls him into a hug. "Hey, hey, shh. It's okay Anakin, you had no control of it, it's not your fault. Do you hear me?"

He clings to her like he's _starving_. She feels the absolute _need_ from him, for this kind of contact. Just how deprived of physical comfort had he been? Oh, what is she even asking that question for? He's a _Jedi_, they don't believe in the physical, they detach themselves from it. Force, this is going to be so stupidly easy to get him to fall. The Jedi have practically set him up to do so because they obviously don't understand how to deal with him if he's this screwed up as a Jedi Knight, not to mention he's to ashamed and full of self-doubt to seek help himself. She's honestly a little curious why they allowed him to be knighted, they can't be _that_ blind to his issues. Regardless, the real challenge isn't getting Skywalker to fall, its getting him to fall and side with her over whoever the other Sith Master is.

She sits on the edge of the bunk with him patiently, she's had to play the nice lady act many times before, but none with a prize like this. So she will be as patient as possible, and play up her act to the point of being what she represents. The Rule of Two is about patience, calculated cunning, and manipulation, not about raw destructive power or military prowess, though it doesn't hurt to have those. Why would she personally need to kill the Jedi Order, when she could twist Anakin around her finger and get him to do it for her?

Though she wouldn't want to miss out on _all_ the fun.

His absolute nova of emotions slowly ebb as she rubs his back. "Easy, shesh, have you never talked with anyone about this before?"

"What's there to talk about?" he bit out bitterly.

She takes a moment to analyze that bitterness bleeding off him. Because bitterness comes in so many flavors. This one tinged in resentment and frustration, at someone, no, at someones, an organization, the Republic, the Jedi. Ah, that no one ever helped. He was born into slavery because the Jedi and the Republic didn't care about anything beyond their borders. Best to focus on that instead of his personal issues as to, one, not solve them, and two, increase that resentment.

"Anakin, even back in my time the Outer Rim had been allowed to turn into a cesspit while the Core fumbled with their own messes," said Zannah with disdain, "Have you ever talked about slavery with anyone?"

Anakin scoffed, his emotion-nova turning into finely tuned and well-settled contempt. "Anytime I ever asked about freeing slaves or stopping slavery its the same bantha-shit as always, 'You've got to learn to let go' or 'We've got to focus on the big picture'. I stopped bothering to ask years ago."

Zannah drops away her hand and moves to sit side-by-side. "I don't know all the history between when I went into stasis and now, but, from what I saw on the datapad, it was assumed that the Sith died out. How long ago did they reveal themselves?"

"Obi-Wan killed Darth Maul on Naboo roughly ten or so years ago," answered Anakin, "That was the first encounter with the Sith."

Well now... "Whose Obi-Wan?"

"Obi-Wan Kenobi, my master," answered Anakin, pride in his voice.

Zannah has to resist the urge to narrow her eyes and growl. This 'Obi-Wan' had killed a Sith of the Rule of Two? "I think I'd like to meet Obi-Wan at some point, to compare Sith."

To size up a threat.

Anakin nodded. "You will."

Good, good. "So, back on track then, it's been almost a thousand years since Ruusan, since the last major galactic threat of the Sith. What, exactly has the Republic been doing in that time with nothing massive in the way? Your answer, I imagine, would be 'Nothing about slavery'."

His fist clenches, his jaw tightens. "Yeah, that sounds about right."

Force... he's so _easy_ to play to her tune.

"I mean, I could excuse it for awhile to get the Republic back on its feet, but even then, it would seem they preferred to keep the status quo," said Zannah, a real mocking tone in her voice.

She doesn't need to fake it, if the Republic was everything it propped itself up as being, the Sith, especially of the Rule of Two, would _never_ have thrived. Complacency would be their doom.

"Yeah... I've talked about the Republic's issues with Palpatine before," said Anakin, sighing, "It kinda goes over my head, but he says there's so much corruption he's had to work through that its been difficult to get a lot done."

"Whose Palpatine? A senator?" she asked.

"The Chancellor," he corrected.

That gets a raised eyebrow. "You almost sound buddy-buddy with him."

Anakin scratches his head a bit bashfully. "We're friends, he's looked after me since I was a kid and helped save his planet. He's invited me to visit him a bunch of times over the years."

She nods slowly, but there's an _itch_ in the back of her head. It deserves a thank you sure, but the Chancellor personally taking the time to continually meet with some Jedi kid?

"I feel a little bad about using up so much of his time, but, I talk with the Chancellor alot about this kind of stuff, always asks after me and how I'm doing, always willing to listen to my problems," admitted Anakin.

Oh... Zannah had a _really_ bad feeling about this. There were all kinds of flags raised now, there were no reasons for the Chancellor to be continually serving as some kid's emotional springboard. The first instinct that comes to mind when some old politician goes after someone young is molestation and sexual abuse, but she doesn't get that vibe from Anakin, especially as a former slave. He wouldn't tolerate that.

He smiled a little shyly. "Honestly though? We've just me, but talking to you feels a lot like talking to Palpatine, he's a bit more polite, politician and all. I just... get the feeling I can be more open without being judged like the rest of the Jedi would do."

Feels a lot like...

Oh.

Kriffing.

_Shit_.

"Is there anyone else you've talked to like that over the years?" she asks faintly.

Anakin shakes his head. "No."

Well... with those holes into Skywalker's mind, and no one else he trusted to speak with like that... oods were that Palpatine was the current Sith Master. If a Sith Master had actually managed to become Chancellor of the Republic, this was it. She was at the endgame. This was potentially a _terrible_ time to have been woken up. She did not want to screw up the Grand Plan through Sith infighting, that was entirely the point of the Rule of Two to stop that.

She swallows thickly. "Well, I'm flattered, but really, there shouldn't need to be a special set of people you can talk with. Why are the Jedi so judging?"

Anakin scowls a little. "Because I was 'to old' when I came in, because I 'feel to much'."

"And that, Anakin, is why I enjoy being a Shadow," she said cheerfully, "I'm on my own most of the time and can do whatever and feel whatever I want. I only have to nod by head and play civil when I report in, otherwise my life is my own."

Oh, the envy radiating off him is extreme. "Unfortunately, I've been told I have the subtly of a stump, can't follow that path."

Zannah snickered. "Its not a life for everyone, but, have you tried?"

He blinked. "What do you mean, 'tried'?"

Subtly of a stump was something she wouldn't allow to survive in her would-be apprentice. He needed to learn. "Have you tried to learn the traits necessary? To become subtle, to blend in, to lie and keep secrets..."

The Force flares around Anakin, and he speaks with an edge to his voice, "I grew up a slave, I know a lot more than you _think_."

Shesh, defensive much? "Right, sorry, thoughtless of me."

He shakes his head and mutters, "Its fine."

So he says, but she feels him lingering on that with an unhealthy amount of effort. Best to nip that in the bud and get herself back on his good side. "Educate me then. I don't know as much about slavery as I should, what skills did you learn that you think would be useful as a Shadow?"

That catches him completely offguard and he just stares at her wide eyed for a moment, his previous emotions washed away to these stunned state. Was him being asked for his opinion that rare? Or perhaps asked in this capacity where he is more knowledgeable than the person in the profession they're talking about? She raises an eyebrow at him, and he reflexively schools himself. "Ah... well... I had to pay attention to my Master, learn to read his tells, not to mention other people's. When the only protection you have is someone having to pay _property_," he spat that last word out viciously, "Damage if someone hurt me, I needed to know when to be careful and keep my head down."

Zannah nodded. "That's good, definitely a skill you need to have when you're undercover."

"I had to know how to lie if I was ever caught doing something I shouldn't be doing, or somewhere I'm not supposed to be, or taking something I shouldn't be," he offers, eyebrows furrowed, going through memories. Zannah catches an image from him, picking through some sandy junkyard, a blue Toydarian demanding to know what Anakin was doing with something.

"Good," says Zannah again, "You need to be able to think under pressure and think quickly, without showing nervousness or hints of deception."

He nods again before going silent, uncertainty ringing about him.

Zannah doesn't press. She's pressed so much already in one sitting, even if its been in ways that lead in with their conversations, if she hadn't done so carefully, he'd probably have stormed out or shut down the topic by now. Either he continues on of his own accord, or they move on for now. Peeling the onion that her targets were was a careful art Zannah had mastered years ago.

"There are...," Anakin begins in a careful tone, "Many secrets involved in the society of slaves. Our beliefs, our customs, our language, our efforts to help one another. Most slavers don't care, but the ones that want to own everything, who are watchful..."

He shakes his head. "You have to be able to hold a secret, even under pain.

He looks away, shame and bleakness in his voice. "You have to know who to keep secrets from, even among your own people. If someone's going to crack, or break under pressure...," he swallows, "You have to cut them off to not risk the rest."

"A harsh life," Zannah murmurs, "So much more than most free people could fathom."

Anakin nods. "It is."

She studied him again for a long moment. "You have the pieces you'd need to start learning, all it is would be a matter of practice, training, and experience in differing settings."

He shakes his head. "The idea is nice, and I'm glad," he says with a shy smile, "You think I could, but, I've been raised as a Guardian, its a bit late for a career change."

"If you say so," she says, shrugging, "Its just time and effort."

"Which I don't have nearly enough of," he said dryly, "Being in a middle of a war and all."

"Fair point," she agrees.

"Though, speaking of the war and learning things, we got way off track," he says, "Would you be able to teach me how to counter Force Lightning?"

"Hmm, we kind of did get off track," she says, giving a quick laugh, "Alright, yeah."

She goes silent, thinking of how to do this. "The way I, as a shadow, would counter Force Lightning differs from how a Consular would do so, and probably wouldn't be approved of by the Jedi majority, though, that's kind of why we are our own little group."

He nods slowly. "Yeah, I mean, I know shadows exist, I know what they do, but the rest and the how is all hush hush."

"As a shadow, we can dance dangerously close to the Dark Side, its why our numbers tend to be so low, if we let just anyone in, they'd surely fall, it takes the right kind of person to toe the line and keep ahold of themselves," she explained slowly, carefully, "My way of countering lightning involves the use of emotions in a manner that would probably get me reprimanded and censored. If I let myself briefly cross over that line, between light and dark, I can do it, but its not advisable to do it, and especially not advisable to do it often."

"You've... done it before? Touched the Dark Side?" he asked quietly, eyes wide.

"Yeah," she answers casually, as if its no big deal; she can feel how scandalized he is, "There isn't a Jedi alive who hasn't had some kind of brush with the Dark Side, shadows just brush or touch it a lot more."

There is a flinch from Anakin, a skittishness and fear, and for a moment, Zannah catches an image of some dead woman in a tent and so much grief... then its smothered. "Yeah... I... I've had my own brush."

"It's never a pleasant thing," said Zannah, "But we do what we must. Even if its a willing, conscious effort to do so. But that's kind of the point," she says, giving him a look as if she's searching for his understanding, "You're doing so while understanding the risks and the consequences if you go to far, if you succumb to it."

He nods again, swallowing. He's so eager to learn, even if he's afraid of knowing it, and afraid of how others would react to him using what she's hinting at. "You'll be hunted down if you fall."

She hummed in agreement. "The Council has never been lenient or tolerant of the Dark Side, even if you try to use it for a good cause. Now..."

She stands up and moves to the middle of the room. "You said you've been hit by it before, correct?"

He nods grimly. "I have."

"The first thing, before you can even think of countering it, is understanding it," she explained, starting with a dumbed-down Jedi version of it rather than what she'd explain to a Sith Apprentice, "It is summoned through intense aggressive emotions, generally hate, sometimes various types of anger. One of the reasons it can be so debilitating is not just the pain it inflicts, but the way it disrupts you. You are being bombarded by not just the lightning, but by that hatred or anger. Darksiders literally manifest their emotion through their Force and discharge it, which can mess with your connection to the Force."

She waits for a nod of understanding before she continues in something that's definitely not the Jedi way, "The way I know how to brace or counteract it is through the use of my own emotions. If I just want to withstand it, or I'm not in a position to counteract or deflect it, I fuel myself with a brief well of my own negative emotions to absorb some of the current and weaken its effect."

She holds up a finger. "But you have to be able to release it when the assault is done, letting that kind of corrosive energy linger inside of you can have long-term damage, especially to your joints and bones."

"Is... is there an emotion that works best?" he asks, hesitation clear in his voice.

"Whatever is your strongest one," she advises, "It's different for everyone."

There is a dark edge to him again, and once more the image of a dead woman in a tent is at the forefront of his mind. "Okay."

"In terms of deflecting or counter it," she says, "You can catch and smother Force Lightning if your emotions are stronger than the ones used to create it in the first place. You can feel the lightning when its coming at you with the Force, all you have to do is wrap your own negativity around it as it nears, compact and suppress it, then kill it. It is, obviously, a lot harder in practice than how I'm making it sound. I had to learn the hard way, with a lot more exposure to it than I imagine anyone would like."

He looks uncomfortable. "Fights with Sith?"

"Egging one on to intentionally use it on me till I figured out everything about it," she answers smoothly, "I've been in the clutches of a Sith Lord before, its not pleasant."

Its... half true, ish. It had been more of a lesson than her pissing Bane off enough to fry her. He would allow her no weakness, even if that had meant weeks of being on the receiving end of his lightning. It was... '_educational'_.

Anakin looks squeamish, but nods.

"Now, I want you to understand that directly countering or redirecting lightning back at its user is not easy, and is an extremely draining thing to do," she explained, "It's much simpler to deflect it, and through deflecting it, you don't even need to be stronger than the user since you're not stopping it, just directing it in another direction."

"Path of least resistance," he offers.

"Exactly," she says, giving him a smile, "It might be made through the Force, but its still a current of energy."

"I saw Yoda and Dooku fighting with it," said Anakin, "Yoda threw it back at Dooku, but Dooku just held out a hand a deflected it into the ceiling."

She nods and holds up a hand, narrowing her eyes, focusing a bit of anger to coat around her hand, naked to the physical eye. But Anakin sees it through the Force, his own eyes going wide. "To do so, wrap your emotions around you, come in contact with the lightning, and direct it elsewhere. But understand Anakin, you have to be quick about it, beyond thought, just instinct. Because the lightning isn't going to wait around for you to think about what you want to do with it. Now, you try."

She slowly smiles as he doesn't hesitate for more than a moment, doesn't question if its right or wrong or if a Jedi should do so. He wraps anger and frustration in his hand with a swift and surprising readiness. "You're a quick learner, Anakin, that's perfect."

He grins, another shy smile crossing his face... and loses the Force around his hand. He blinks and stares down at it. "Huh?"

"You've got to maintain the emotions you use," she advises, "Other emotions will disrupt it, do it again and hold it."

He does so; she feels him struggling to control his excitement and eagerness. So she allows him a minute to wrestle with himself.

"Now, I'm going to do a small jolt, I want you to deflect it," she says.

He looks up at her sharply, but manages to control his surprise. "You're going to use the..."

She calls on just a small tinge of anger and points a finger at him, a single line, a single spark of blue lightning surging at him. Anakin backhands the spark up into the ceiling without even hesitating, instant reaction. The lighting flickering and dying out, leaving them in darkness.

"Whoops," says Zannah, giggling, "Maybe in here wasn't the best idea."

She can feel Anakin staring at her with incredulousness. "Y-you just..."

She moves to open the door and turns to face him in the door way, arms crossed. "I just what, Anakin? Tapped the Dark a little bit? Do I feel fallen? Tainted? Desecrated?"

She feels him brush against her false aura of light, and he is conflicted now. Its one thing to hear it said, its another thing to see someone doing it, going against everything he would have learned as a Jedi. "No."

"Like I said, a little bit, done rarely, isn't going to destroy you," she said turning away, "You've got the basics down, but it'll take a real experience to master it. Now, care to take a lady out to eat? I'm _starving_."

He is flustered, and confused, but he shoves it down and steps out of the room. "Y-yeah, alright, lets go get some grub. We've got a few hours yet before we link up with Obi-Wan."

She lets him lead her down the hall, all the while, she staring at him from behind, imagining him in the garbs of a Sith Apprentice...


	3. Kenobi

Zannah's first thought on Obi-Wan Kenobi is that she wouldn't mind gobbling him up, or at least tying him down to a bed for a night of fun. You know, if the whole Jedi thing wasn't a complete turnoff. Unlike Skywalker, she takes one look at his master, feels how sickeningly light he is, and knows he's not falling to the Dark Side unless she breaks him down completely and remakes him from the ground up. To much effort when Skywalker is pretty much begging to fall.

"A Jedi Shadow from before the Ruusan Reformation trapped in stasis for the last thousand or so years," repeats Kenobi slowly, giving Skywalker this incredulous look that's really kind of amusing to see.

Because Kenobi feels more exasperated than anything else, as if Skywalker bringing this kind of mess to his attention is a normal thing.

"Yep," answers Anakin cheerfully, "Been trying to bring Rain up to speed on things since her time, you should hear her thoughts on the Ruusan Reformation."

Kenobi lifts a single eyebrow.

Anakin grins.

"I dare say you've made a friend, Anakin," mused Kenobi.

There is a laugh poorly masked as a cough from Rex, Ahsoka snickers, Anakin's grin grows, Kenobi sighs in fond exasperation, and Zannah swears she's never felt so disgusted by so much blatant light in her life. Kenobi has got to die, no questions asked. Problem being, she can feel the deep attachment from Anakin to Kenobi, and perhaps a bit in return though the older Jedi does his best to suppress it. Zannah knows that if she is in any way responsible for Kenobi's death, it might cost her Skywalker when he finds out who and what she is afterwards. She could try to do or engineer the deed and mask it, but if Skywalker ever rooted around in her head and found it...

She has a man she needs dead but she can't be in any way involved.

Tedious complications.

Best way to deal with that is to weaken the bond between them, instill negativity and make them drift apart. She's already planted some seeds that will cause tension eventually, but not nearly enough to destroy what these two have at the moment. That silent conversation, reading eachother, the familiarity... she wrinkles her nose at it, but keeps what she feels well behind her shields. There is a very real possibility that the current Sith Master is already aware of this issue, and is working towards a solution. She may ultimately not need to do anything personally about Kenobi.

"He's a good kid," she answers, reaching up on her tip toes to try and ruffle his hair, but he merely follows suit, pushing up on his own tip toes and going clear out of reach, "Why is everyone so damn taller than me?"

"Short end of the gene pool," he teases.

"That's a shitty joke," she scowls at him.

That grin is ever wider on his face. Honestly, if he smiles any more the top half of his head is going to fall off.

"If its any conciliation, Knight Rain," says Kenobi, "I'm shorter than my padawan, going to be shorter than my grand padawan, shorter than my master was, and my grand..."

He tapers off for a moment before shrugging. "And my grand master."

That gets a raised eye from Anakin, and Zannah feels like she missed something.

"Well, at least you're taller than Yoda," teased Anakin.

"Honestly Anakin," answers Obi-Wan, "Yoda jokes? Are we still in the creche?"

It was meant as teasing.

But Zannah's not blind to the sudden fading of Skywalker's grin, the spike of irritation from him. "I wouldn't know, I was never there."

There was a hesitation from Obi-Wan, clearly recognizing what she did, so he shifted the subject and attention. "Yes, well, Knight Rain, I'm sure the council will wish to meet with you soon in order to help you integrate into the Order of this day and age, as Anakin has informed me, you've seen fit to educate yourself of the Ruusan Reformation. Things operate a bit differently from here, which may require re-training or adaption to better use your skillset."

Zannah slowly raises an unimpressed eyebrow at him. He meant no offense in what he said, she can feel that through the Force, but his word choice, oh it begs to be ripped apart, especially as a '_stubborn old-fashion Jedi_'; so she schools her face into disapproval, and lets it ripple through the Force, making him and the other two Jedi grow still. "Oh I'm sorry, did I need _permission_ to do research?"

Obi-Wan paused briefly, eyes flickering, mentally going over his words before he winced. "No, I did not mean..."

"I do not particularly need this day and age's council's approval on how I do my job anymore than I needed it in my time. I may do as the council requests of me from time to time, but never forget, Jedi are supposed to follow the Will of the Force, not the will of a politicized council."

"The council is not...," began Obi-Wan.

"The Jedi obey the whims of the Senate," snapped Zannah, "I've read enough since I awoke to know the Jedi as a majority do the missions the Senate or various planetary governments request of them. What happened to Jedi going out on their own to seek out those in need?"

Its an actual honest question. She's sure that not all Jedi follow this 'newer path', but as a whole the Jedi seemed to have fallen from their previous existence. Natural decline? Or Sith influence?

Obi-Wan's lips purse. "We trust in the Senate to better direct us to important issues that require our attention. There are too few Jedi to not have our abilities directed in a controlled manner."

"Oh yes, because you can surely trust greedy politicians to have the galaxy's best interests in heart, and not overlook those who truly need your help," said Zannah flatly, "And if the Jedi hadn't gotten so cult-worthy picky about their initiates, your numbers wouldn't be so thin."

Obi-Wan narrows his eyes in offense at her as Anakin suckers in a breath and hisses, "Rain!"

She doesn't stop. "I knew my family, Master Kenobi, they were kind, they were good, and they were righteous, I don't appreciate, **_at all_**, the implication that the Jedi stopped allowing that because," she let out scathing sarcasm, "Anyone who has attachments is doomed to the Dark Side because of said attachments."

"Its about cutting away as much possibility of a Fall as possible, Knight Rain," stressed Kenobi, hands held up in a placating manner, "It was never about a single instance, but, while I'm sure your family is as you say they were, not all were. Some would try to abuse their connection to a Jedi child or spouse, others could be taken captive and used against them, not to mention the pain of loss should they die."

"Oh yes, because the Jedi have somehow forgotten that support groups and therapy exist," drawled Zannah.

"Okay okay okay," stepped in Ahsoka, "You officially like to argue more than both Skyguy and Obi-Wan combined on their bad days. Lets chill, okay?"

Zannah huffed, crossing her arms. "Fine, but, for the record Master Kenobi? It's Master Rain, not Knight Rain. I did manage to wrangle an apprentice, trying as she was."

"Was she as feisty as you are?" asked Ahsoka, attempting to alleviate.

Zannah grins at the thought Darth Cognus on the hunt. "Oh, you have no idea. Training a bounty hunter was fun like no other."

Poking fun at Cognus after she was long dead was going to become a fun pastime; Cognus had been an assassin, she had _hated_ being labeled as a bounty hunter.

Ahsoka's eyes went wide. "The Council let you train an bounty hunter, let alone a adult?"

"I never asked nor needed their permission to take on an apprentice," said Rain with a dismissive sniff before tilting her head in musing, "Did I ever remember to even let them know I took an apprentice now that I think about it? Suppose it doesn't matter. It would be funny to find my lineage still alive in this day and age though."

Anakin and Ahsoka are both gaping at her, Obi-Wan just rubs his forehead before clearing his throat. "Yes, well, I believe the Council is going to have a new favorite it seems aside of Anakin."

Anakin scoffed. "Favorite?"

"Favorite pain in their ass, Skyguy," said Ahsoka, grinning at him.

"Hey!"

And just like that, the tension Zannah had cultivated was gone as the friendly jabbing begins. If she had less control, she might stare at the trio, gobsmacked, instead, she recedes her attempt into cold, calculated study. Both Obi-Wan and Ahsoka have an great effect on Skywalker, Kenobi obviously having more than Tano. While Zannah's own words would linger, cause tension and doubt perhaps, their impact would be drastically lessened. Still, she had her 'rant', lingering on it might try at Skywalker in a way she did not want, best to move on to her initial reason for wanting to meet Kenobi.

"So Master Kenobi," she begins, drawing his attention back, and she notes with secret pleasure the way he subtly tenses as if expecting a continuation of her verbal assault, "Anakin tells me you are the only Jedi of this day and age to have defeated a Sith Lord."

Interestingly, Kenobi's face becomes a blank mask. "Yes."

A single, one word answer. Oh, the victory definitely cost him something important. She can feel pride bubbling off Anakin, but also nervous uncomfortableness. Something about this topic is... precarious to the both of them. She will have to be careful in how she handles it to not upset Skywalker. Professional interest was the best bet.

"Academically," she begins, "I am curious how the Sith of this day and age compare to Skere Kaan's Brotherhood of Darkness. It would be best to educate myself prior to my first encounter and potentially getting myself killed expecting one thing but finding another."

She knows she choose the right path when Kenobi somewhat relaxed that blank look, Anakin's own tension following suit, a sense of agreement pulsing off him, and amusingly, a faint stirring of protectiveness towards her. Already? He _attached_ very quickly, or had her initial impacts simply been that effective? She hopes the latter, because the first might cause issues. Sith don't share influence of their apprentices with others, even if he hadn't taken that role yet.

"His name was Darth Maul," began Obi-Wan, hesitating briefly, "We believe he was the Sith Apprentice at the time. He wielded a saberstaff with immense skill in Juyo."

Juyo isn't unexpected, the saberstaff was though, and it is secretly pleasing to have another of her line take up her favored weapon. "Saberstaffs were always a messy thing to deal with, exhilarating to use though, if you could time it right you could slice them in half."

Obi-Wan nodded in agreement. "I did so myself, yes."

Tsk, Maul either messed up or got cocky then. Or maybe Obi-Wan was skilled enough, who knows. "Is there a story behind your battle with him? I find it odd in my readings that the Sith stayed hidden for so long to suddenly reappear without warning."

The uncomfortableness was back in his Force Presence. "The Trade Federation Occupation of Naboo. It was originally assumed to be in protest of a recent trade law, but was found to have been influenced by the Sith, though, there are many that disagree with that."

The Force prickled down her spine. '_Focus_' '_focus_'. "Disagreed?"

"There are to many Jedi who have their head in the sand shouting the Sith don't exist anymore," said Anakin flatly, "And that Maul was just some ordinary darksider."

Zannah's eyebrows furrow. That makes no sense. "_Why_?"

Anakin blinks. "Why what?"

"Why would they assume that?" she asked, knowing she's missing something, "They have the Force to tell them the truth of the matter."

Obi-Wan frowned. "You haven't felt it yet?"

"Felt what?"

Ahsoka made a wiggly motion with her fingers. "The fogginess."

Zannah has absolutely no idea what they are talking about.

"For the last few... decades if we are honest," begins Obi-Wan, "The Force has become rather... vague. Clouded if you will. Its not something that is talked about outside of the temple, in fact, the Council has spread word not to mention it outside the Order. Our abilities have been... diminished in many ways, especially in foresight and seeking out the guidance of the Force."

What?

How in the...

Was that _possible_?

She knew of shrouding _herself_ and _objects_ from being perceived, but...

Had her lineage really found a way to scale that to clouding the perception of the **_ENTIRE_ **Jedi Order?!

She has to clamp down on the fierce pride that roars through her being, that her lineage, her descendants, her legacy, had achieved such a feat. "Hmm. Feels normal enough to me."

Obi-Wan and Anakin exchange glances.

"Well... she's from a time when there were a whole bunch of Sith, right?" asked Ahsoka, "Maybe it was like that back then."

"There's...," Obi-Wan paused, "Well, actually, I will admit I've never sat down in the Archives to try and research the subject."

"Has anyone?" asked Zannah.

"I don't know," admitted Obi-Wan, "I would believe that the Council has looked into the subject."

She glances at Anakin and mouths 'Complacency'. He bites his lips and holds back a response. Curious, she thought he would jump to agree with her. Or is it perhaps because that would make him contest Obi-Wan in a public setting? The Padawan had implied they argued, sometimes enough to be considered a 'bad day'. But perhaps they kept it private most of the time? Something to try and watch out for.

Zannah hummed. "I see. So, let me get this straight. Because Maul didn't have a sign painted over his head that said 'Sith', and the Force isn't screaming truth at them, the Jedi Order _dismisses it_?"

Obi-Wan hesitated for a moment. "Well, not quite in those words, but yes."

"Can I go back to my own time now?" she asks flatly, "I keep growing less and less impressed the more I hear."

Anakin coughs.

Ahsoka crosses her arms and scowls a little.

And the Clones... they're all watching with fascinated looks, well, not that she can see it under their helmets, but she can feel it. She's guessing such a public critique isn't commonplace. Honestly, the Jedi need challengers, without the Sith to keep them on their toes, just look at what they've become! Then again, that was sort of the intent of the Rule of Two. Gather power and influence from the shadows, wait for the Jedi and the Republic to weaken and grow complacent, then when the time was right, go for the heart.

Obi-Wan merely meets her gaze unflinching, and she is rather impressed when he actually goes and admits a failing. "The Jedi Order has not had to face the Sith in almost a thousand years. Compared to the Order of your time that was constantly tested by them, then perhaps you will find us lacking. There are many methodologies and insights that have been shelved over the last millennia that are now coming back to bite us. Our lack of military knowledge and strategy alone cost us many a early skirmish across the galaxy as an example, but we are learning, its not a lesson we wish to learn as peacekeepers, but we will do what we must for the Republic."

Zannah gives him a considerate look. "Hmm. That was rather well said."

There is a small smile on his face. "Thank you."

"Are we due anywhere anytime soon?" she asked.

"We are returning to Coruscant and will arrive later today," said Obi-Wan, "Ventress's death requires an in-person report to the Council and an update to the Chancellor. We could use a re-supply as well and a bit of a rest from the war effort. Your presence is also an important change that needs to be carefully considered, your insights on the Sith could be very helpful."

Hah. He's a quick learner, his phrasing of that was much better than before, without offering much for her to pick apart. Its a shame he's so damn light, she might have liked to pit him and Skywalker against eachother for the position of apprentice. "Fair enough, so then Master Kenobi, care for a spar? I could use the practice, and I'm curious to see how I measure up to the only Sith Killer of this era."

There is something that briefly falters about him after the words 'Sith Killer' escape her lips, but he masks it. "Of course. Cody, you have the bridge."

Zannah briefly identifies the Clone he speaks to and marks his presence as '_important fodder_' before following in a bit behind Obi-Wan, at Anakin's side, with Ahsoka behind her. She keeps her voice low. "I wont apologize for speaking my mind earlier, but did I say something wrong at the end?"

Anakin hesitates. "He doesn't like being called Sith Killer."

"I didn't know," she offers quietly, "I'll refrain from now on."

"Thanks, he'll appreciate it," said Anakin before he scowls, "There's still plenty of Jedi who don't get that."

"And here I was thinking the Order didn't believe it," teased Zannah.

"You're impossible Rain," he says, laughing a little.

"Glad you approve," she says smoothly, but really, it was kind of an honest question.

They make their way into the hanger bay and take to the center, plenty of room to maneuver around. Zannah takes her lightsaber off her belt and fiddles with its powering. Bane had never really seen a need for a power setting on his lightsaber, but she liked having options. It solved the issue of needing a separate training saber early on in training Cognus, not to mention alleviating the risks of training with a full-powered blade. Bane might have thought along the lines of '_if you aren't skilled or controlled enough its your own fault_', but Zannah was more pragmatic in eliminating needless risks.

She readies herself, gripping her short-saberstaff in a standard open-guard downward opening, single-side activated to start, two fingers pointing at Kenobi... only to find he has the exact same stance.

Anakin bursts out laughing.

A pinched expression crosses Kenobi's face. "Must you, Anakin?"

Anakin grins. "Its just...," he wiggles his fingers in the air, "Funny to see you two do that."

"Yes, well," begins Obi-Wan, eyes lingering on how Zannah holds herself, "I dare say neither of us will find much use out of testing ourselves in the same form when neither wishes to take the offense. Are you skilled with others?"

"Soresu is my primary focus," not including Sith Sorcery, "I have experience in all Lightsaber Forms to the point of being passable," that gets an eyebrow raised from him, "But none are at a particularly skillful state. Sith hardly hesitate on being on the offense after all, I don't need to go to them."

Well... she had to chase Bane down a bit at the end, but that was miscommunication more than anything else. Honestly, he trains her for years, knows her ins and outs (_mostly_) and doubts she'd seek to fulfill the function of the Rule of Two? It _still_ made her bristle years later.

"No, I suppose they don't," agreed Obi-Wan, shifting his stance into an Ataru opener, two-handed grip held vertically to his side, "I am unsure of the composition of the Sith and the armies you faced in the past. Do you have experience using solely against Lightsabers? Or have you..."

"I've faced plenty a foe wielding a blaster, yes," she cut in, "I don't particularly plan to be on the open field against the Sith's tin soldiers anyway, open combat isn't my thing."

There is a brief twinge of disappointment from Skywalker before its masked. Tough shit kid, she didn't _do_ army VS army combat. That was asking to get killed, and was definitely not her strong suit. She pushes the focus on Skywalker away, waiting patiently as Kenobi flexed his grip on his lightsaber. Perhaps a little unpracticed with Ataru instead of Soresu? He's not going to beat her with an off-lightsaber form, there is little doubt of that, he probably understands that as well. The question is, how much does she show? A quick defeat or slow and drawn out? Does she set her standard as aggressive or defensive? Because contrary to popular belief, Soresu could be aggressive, depending on how harshly one went into counter-attacking and offbalancing her opponent.

Though, it was much more difficult to have offense without actively using the Force.

He begins with a standard opening leap, striking down, she blocks, activates the other end of her lightsaber, and stabs backwards. There is a startled cough from Kenobi as the powered-down saber actually lands and stabs him, that was going to leave a nasty little burn. She turns her head and gives him an incredulous look; he gives her a awkward smile in response.

"That was... a poor start," he says sheepishly, pointedly ignoring Anakin's snickering, "I didn't think that was a saberstaff."

She grins and twirls her lightsaber as she rotates to face him. "Custom built to be smaller. Sacrifices reach and leverage for speed and mobility."

His study of her lightsaber shifts onto her lithe body. "It will allow you an incredible wall of defense."

"It does," she agreed.

"I have a feeling I am not going to enjoy being on the offensive in these spars."

"You won't."

"Such modesty, I can see why you and Anakin get along."

Anakin scoffs at that while Zannah merely grins at the playful jab. "Like I said, he's a good kid."

She beckons Kenobi with her hand, and he obliges, coming at her again...

* * *

Anakin knows Obi-Wan hasn't actively practiced Ataru in a very long time. He did the switch after... well... after Qui-Gon died over a decade ago. Though its not like Obi-Wan doesn't use Ataru at all, he weaves a bit into his Soresu, hells, he's seen Obi-Wan sneak in a few Shien tricks that Anakin had used on him before, but solely using Ataru on the offensive... doesn't happen often in a saber fight anymore for his old Master. Its still kind of painful to watch his Master get demolished like this. Its not really like watching Obi-Wan spar in the temple; Obi-Wan usually tires out his opponent and wins unless they make a bad mistake and then he's _obligated_ to educate and lecture on it, but he's generally fun and engaging to watch, to learn from. He'd seen his Master and Windu go at eachother once, and that was awesome.

This? This is different. Rain is _nasty_ to fight against, to the point where he's not sure he wants to have a spar against her. Because she doesn't bother to try to tire Obi-Wan out like he would others. If he makes even the slightest mistake, not passing over any, she punishes him, immediately and brutally with a sudden counter attack, like Djem So, but not since she never really takes and continues the offensive unless its to immediately win. She's not an idiot either, Obi-Wan had tried to bait her a few times, but she either passes on the opportunity or 'just barely' dances out of the trap, a cocky grin on his face. She is good, she is disgustingly good.

As much as Anakin wants to kill Dooku himself (_regardless of that not being the Jedi way_), he'd be willing to pit him against Rain just to get the job done and actually win the war. Because he's pretty sure, watching this, that there are very few people prepared in any way to actually fight Rain in combat. Its in the way she holds herself, how she fights, even how she speaks and acts. She is a weapon from an older time, tested and tempered against the Sith that no Jedi of his time are yet. There is a harshness and brutality in her form that the elegance of it all doesn't betray. She is _lethal,_ its scary honestly, he can feel how uncomfortable Ashoka is watching it, the only thing worse would be Windu going intense with Vaapad, or watching a Sith fight. If Dooku kriffed up once in a fight against Rain, he'd be done.

Of course, despite Dooku being an arrogant ass, he was unfortunately one of the best duelists the Order has seen since Rain's time. He might survive, especially if he learns of Rain before he encounters her. On the flips side though, Rain has experience facing the Dark Side, Dooku's lightning would do squat against her, and that in its own, expecting her to be disabled when she's not, might win it for her as well. After all, a lightsaber fight could be decided on a single move, in a single second. Though he did so enjoy the long drawn out spars he and Obi-Wan could have.

Rain catches Obi-Wan's leg slightly... no, not even out of position, she just sees an opening and goes for it. Kicking his thigh close enough to his groin while their lightsabers are locked up above to make him jolt and stumble slightly, enough for her to skip her lightsaber down off his in a way that would have lopped off his hand in a real duel, instead Anakin sees the light burn from the powered-down saber form on his wrist. Obi-Wan lets out a light hiss and steps back, giving Rain a curt nod.

"Alright, I think its only fair to return the favor," says Rain after moment, "I'd like to test your Soresu now."

"My bruised ego could use the mercy," muses Obi-Wan, good natured despite the hammering he'd gotten. Its definitely not something Anakin would be graceful with.

And then the victories became awkwardly flip sided, enough to the point where Anakin gapes a little.

Rain is _terrible_ on the offensive, like, _worse_ than Obi-Wan terrible. Her form is... weird, he sees different moves from **_ALL _**seven forms woven together. At first it had impressed him to see, because that was Council worthy skill there. Except... its lacking. She's got the motions down, but it lacks her viciousness, as weird as it sounds. Its learned motions, rote repetition, but there's little personality to it if Anakin had to put words to what he saw. She'd beat regular Jedi Knights with it sure, but not anyone noteworthy. Rain is amazing reacting and punishing, she is an _incredible_ opportunist, but...

Rain swings high-down, Obi-Wan blocks and spins, his lightsaber arching for her shoulder. She stumbles back a little, bringing the other end of her saberstaff to parry his lightsaber up just enough to not singe her hair. Obi-Wan neatly brings his lightsaber down and swings it across, his lightsaber stopping just short of searing through Rain's stomach and leaving a nasty burn. Obi-Wan is nice like that, Anakin knows he wouldn't have been, Rain sure hadn't been.

Rain just huffs and steps away. "Again Master Kenobi?"

They do, again and again, and Anakin settles in to watch as Obi-Wan gets his revenge. Not that Obi-Wan would call it that.

"I think you would have been good enough to survive in my time," comments Rain a good half an hour later of sparing.

Obi-Wan goes for a modest response, because of course he does, he's Obi-Wan. "Truly?"

"Mhm, you could have outlasted the average Sith of the Brotherhood easily, perhaps a few at once," she praised, "I don't know if you could have taken on Skere Kaan, but you definitely could have kept the most elite of the Sith busy at minimum."

She gives him a conspirator's grin. "Nice to see another real Master of Soresu."

"Your words are too kind."

"Alright then, Skywalker! Get over here!"

Anakin fumbles a bit. "Uh... are you sure? You've been going a good hour now."

"Oh I'm perfectly fine," she said, chin tilting up in challenge, a mocking smile on her face, "Unless you're scared that is?"

Anakin huffed. "Brat."

"Hey! Pretty the brat is right next to you."

"Don't get me dragged into this!" whined Ahsoka.

Anakin grinned his Padawan before he walked over, fiddling with his saber's power setting before activating it. He grips his saber two-handed high over his shoulder.

"Djem So huh," Rain muses, studying his opening stance, the way her eyes trail his body making him a little uncomfortable by the intensity of her look, "This should be fun."

"Have experience against it?"

"Not counting when I woke up, the last Sith I killed had a unique approach to Djem So, used a curved hilt blade," she commented.

Anakin's eyebrows furrowed. "A 'curved hilt'? That's more Makashi I'd think. I mean, I guess I've kind of done it before."

"That so?"

"Yeah, lost my lightsaber in my first fight against Ventress, the one you killed when you woke up, and stole one of her curved lightsabers, it was... interesting," he said, faintly recalling the uncomfortable feel in his hand, the crying of the bled crystals that pried at his emotional control. He's not particularly proud of how that fight ended.

There is an air of amusement about her. "I'll take your word for it."

Anakin readies himself, watching her adopt the high-guard Soresu opener. He's lucky to have had Obi-Wan to watch first so he already has the expectation that Rain isn't going to play nice. It'll be good experience, especially... well... especially since she just kind of pointed out she was the second Jedi alive to have actually fought and killed a Sith. He's supposed to be the damn Chosen One, but Dooku generally floors him if they fight, Ventress is now out of the equation, Grevious doesn't count, and none of them are sure if Dooku was telling Obi-Wan the truth on Geonosis about this 'Sidious'. Its difficult to control that frustration, so when he comes at Rain with his opening attack, its a bit harder than it should be...

Except shes not _there_ anymore. She sidesteps so fast and spins her lightsaber, going for his throat. He ducks and rolls forward on the ground, the heat of her saber nicking the hair on the back of his neck. He springs to his feet and comes at her hard and fast, a heavy overhead attack that she catches and redirects to the ground with her saber, their shoulders almost brushing in proximity before she pulls her lightsaber back as she brings the other end down towards his arm. But there is one advantage he has over her, she's small and fast but he's strong, and he's in her guard at the moment. Being so close he sees a chance and he takes it, freeing a hand from his saber and grabbing her lightsaber hilt, getting ready to take his saber across her wrist...

...and yelping as her lightsaber, the Kyber in it, _shocks_ him, a jolt of electricity cackling down his arm causing a brief spasm. Which is all Rain needs to end the duel, her low-power lightsaber cleaving all the way through his shoulderblades deeply enough to have taken his top half completely off in a real duel; less than a minute into the spar he's done. He staggers back, hissing and grinding his teeth at the suddenly intense burning sensation going through every part where her lightsaber touched.

"Kriffing hells!" he exclaims, "What was that?! Your kyber shocked me!"

She grins. "You like that?"

"No!"

He pauses and then thinks of how useful that could be, it did just cause that loss.

"Yes."

Rain laughs. "I modified it to do that, keeps thieves' hands off it. Not to mention the kyber lets me know if someone's pawing at it when its not on my belt or in my hands."

Useful. "How did you manage to 'modify' it to do that? I've never heard of something like that before."

"Impress me in one of our spars and I might tell you," she teases.

He rolls his shoulders, pushing the Force through the burns to try and quiet the sensation, readying his lightsaber. "If you insist..."

He didn't manage to actually beat her while she was in her comfort zone of Soresu. It was like fighting a phantasm. Rain was so damn fast, every strength of Form III that Obi-Wan had tried to hammer into his head was showcased with Master level of skill that only Obi-Wan could have a hope to rival. Every attack, without fail, was either dodged, blocked, parried or redirected. Rain never stopped moving, never let him pin her down, economy of motion on display that might even put Dooku's Makashi to shame. Hells, she had gone almost two hours now of sparing and she hardly look winded! What kind of absolutely _insane_ training regiment had she put herself through?!

Fighting her was still a good way to learn. He gave less openings than Obi-Wan had since he was on his preferred form, but when he did, she painfully pointed it out to him. But he'd remember and learn and not get caught like that again. Maybe he hadn't beaten or this session, and probably not the next or the one after, but he would win eventually, he could _feel_ it...

Rain deactivated her lightsaber and wiped a little bit of sweat off her forehead. "Alright, lets call it," she looked at Ahsoka, "Sorry Padawan, but..."

"No no," said Ahsoka, "I was fine just watching."

Rain grinned at her, a knowing glint in her eyes. "So, I believe I promised a little lesson on kyber modification."

A thrill of excitement ran through him, so like his early padawan days when everything was new and interested before it all got bogged down by rules and the Code. Rain beckons them over, and they come, even Obi-Wan has a restrained sense of interest that Anakin can faintly detect down their bond. Rain levitates her lightsaber into the air and disassembles it; Anakin's eyes briefly flow over the parts, and the pair of kybers in it. One is a purple kyber that he'd imagine he'd see in Windu's saber, the other is an oddly star shaped carmine colored kyber that feels strange to him, and both are oddly shrouded, its hard to get a proper feel for them. It... kind of feels like the fog of trying to read the Force these days, just... intensely focused. Strange...

Obi-Wan hones in on the odd one, a question, a statement, escaping him. "That crystal is synthetic."

Anakin blinks. That's weird, like, ninety-nine point nine nine percent of Jedi don't use one. Adi Gallia is the only exception he knew of. Maybe it was a pre-Russan thing.

"Well yeah, I got it from a Sith," she says nonchalantly.

Anakin is gob smacked. "You _stole_ a Sith's kyber crystal?!"

Rain's grin spreads, but she doesn't answer.

"But isn't that...," Ahsoka begins before trailing off.

"A synthetic crystal is no more evil than a normal one," said Rain patiently, "Than a blaster or a vibrosword or whatever. It is the wielder who determines its alignment."

Ahsoka still seems uncomfortable, a slight frown on her face. Obi-Wan is rubbing his beard, staring at the synthetic kyber crystal solemnly. Anakin merely shrugs, not really caring. "Better Synthetic than Bled."

"That too," agreed Rain, "Honestly, most Sith are idiots in that regard."

Anakin blinks. "I mean, aside that bleeding a crystal is _awful_, why?"

"A bled crystal is a broken crystal," explained Rain, "Something dominated and bent to your will, however, it is not yours. It will never bond with its wielder like a normal or synthetic crystal will, never be as in-tune."

That's... something he hadn't thought about before.

"Albeit most _Sith_ won't care," she added, "They'll view feeding off the Kyber's suffering as worth the loss of the bond, regardless of the constant effort to keep it subdued, and that if you know what to feel for, anyone can hear a screaming bled Kyber at a long distance and ruin any chance of being surprised."

**_THAT_ **was something he didn't know either, and useful; though less so since Ventress was too dead to sneak up on him anymore. "Really?"

She nods. "It would require having a bled crystal on us to show you how unfortunately."

"Uh... I think one of my men grabbed Ventress's sabers," said Anakin, and now that he thinks on it, he really should have secured those before getting distracted with Rain.

Oops.

"Something I can show you later then if you wish."

Anakin nods, but neither Obi-Wan and Ahsoka do, an air of disquiet about them. Well, their loss then, just because Dooku was down a Sith Assassin now didn't mean he wouldn't go looking for a replacement later.

"I'm curious," said Obi-Wan in _that_ tone, the one where he found something distasteful but was trying to keep it quiet because that was the diplomatic thing to do, "Why do you use a synthetic along with a natural crystal rather than just two of either?"

She raises a single eyebrow at him, evidently hearing that tone and not caring for it. "I _prefer_ synthetics because of their moldability and ability to bond with anyone, and I'm pretty sure you can guess why I use a natural with it."

"I try not to make assumptions."

Suuuure he doesn't.

Rain huffs. "I use a natural to balance the color because I have no interest in others freaking over a red blade. Considering in my time that allegiances and alignment could change on a whim, showing up with a red lightsaber could cause incidents with trigger-happy troops or overzealous knights and padawans. "

"Understandable," said Obi-Wan in a plain tone.

He went silent for a long moment, staring at the synthetic crystal with apprehension. "Its oddly elusive, reflecting what one expects to see."

For a split second, something calculative crossed Rain's face, fast enough that Anakin wondered if he was right in what he saw; she nodded. "Your mind and presence are not the only thing one can shield in the Force."

Both of Obi-Wan's eyebrows climb and then furrow. "You... you extend your mental shields to your _kyber_?"

"That's not it," she answered, "It's more like I create a shield for it to have on its own. Kyber crystals are... not quite sentient in our terms, but have enough of it that if you craft a shield through it, around it, that it will maintain it on its own."

Anakin _stared_ at her.

Obi-Wan _stared_ at her.

Ahsoka _stared_ at her.

Rain blinked. "What?"

"That's... I've never heard of anything like that before," admitted Obi-Wan, "I know about helping people, whether Force-Sensitives or not, create mental shields to protect their thoughts, yes, but... not this."

Anakin looked down at his saber hanging on his belt, feeling for the kyber and nudging it. The crystal sang a sad tune back to him, but nothing else. He resisted the urge to sigh. It had steadily been getting sader since he had gotten this saber and went through battle after battle. He can faintly recall the mournful hymn of the previous lightsaber, the one he had killed the Sand People with, that had bore his grief of mom's...

He pushes off the thought and refocused. Maybe this technique could protect a Kyber from the effects of being used in war and exposed to so much death. "Could you teach that?"

"So inquisitive," she teases; but there is approval behind that, "But yes. First off, you need to understand manipulating Kyber. Its easier with a synthetic because of its moldability, but can be done with a natural. So gather around children and let ol' Rain teach you a few things."

Anakin and Obi-Wan both huff at being called children, but settle in on the floor to watch, Ahsoka sitting behind them. Rain speaks with a calm, but strict tone, eyes gauging their understanding as she moves from one thing to another, but while she is teaching all of them, Anakin feels her eyes and attention mostly on _him_. Asking for _his_ understanding more than the others. The lesson is for _him_, and he... misses that. Misses being the sole recipient of Obi-Wan's or another's lessons or attention when they're teaching _him_ something that he wants to learn. It reminds him of the Chancellor where he takes the time for _him_, to ask how _he's_ doing.

The Jedi ask that he give up so much of himself for others, so he hopes Rain has more to teach, more to give, because its nice to get something back in return.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh Anakin... be careful what you wish for.


	4. Sidious

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You know those asshole relatives?
> 
> Sidious is kind of like that.

Was it just Zannah, or has Coruscant gotten even _bigger_?

Its the thought that strikes her as they step out of the dropship onto a landing pad, a hub to be transported to different locations on the world. The last time she had visited here hadn't been long before she'd put herself in stasis. They just kept on building higher and higher it seemed. It was a wonder none of it had rusted and crumbled down. Perhaps they had an army of maintenance droids towards the bottom.

Idle curiosity made her muse aloud, "I wonder when is the last time someone actually saw the ground."

"Probably before even you were born," said Anakin, "I know that street gangs, criminals, and those in poverty live on the 'lower levels', lower being questionable for Coruscant, but I don't think that comes close to actually hitting the bottom."

"Probably not," she agreed, "So, where to?"

Kenobi stepped off the dropship, arms folding into his sleeves. "Reporting in I'm afraid. There is bound to be a bit of a mess to deal with after Ventress's death and your... waking up. The council wants a debrief first before they meet you."

He gave Anakin a not so subtle look. "The Chancellor also made a request for an in-person report after my initial report to the council was forwarded to the Senate. Perhaps you'd prefer to go do so? Unless you'd prefer the council..."

"Oh no, no no no, they're all yours," said Anakin, "'Sides, ought to introduce Rain to the Chancellor."

Obi-Wan nodded. "Very well, come along Ahsoka, we will go give our report and our impressions."

Zannah's eyebrows narrowed briefly. Impressions? Hmm... likely about her. She pushed the thought aside from the moment, instead focusing on the Chancellor. The likelihood of him being the descendant of Bane's Line, _Her Line_. The Dark Side was thick around Coruscant, breathing in felt like taking in a drug with every breath, it was _intoxicating_, _empowering_. Combined with the death spreading through the galaxy at war, it made her feel like she was in her teens again. It was also slightly unnerving, the euphoria of it all made her want to howl to the world aloud the supremacy of the Sith and the Dark Side. It fueled her anger, her hatred, to levels she was actually having to put effort into controlling.

She didn't like not feeling completely in control.

She was also wary of how the Sith Master might react to her. Only two there were, no more, no less. She was not supposed to be awake right now. There was the possibility that this could go very, very, south, very quickly. Sith were not hopeful beings, so she was not hopeful for a certain reaction, she instead assumed that Palpatine wouldn't be a moron and try to kill her then and there if he didn't like the Rule of Two being broken. Because she would fight back to survive, even if that jeopardized revealing them both and ruining the Grand Plan. Honestly though, he ought to have kept a better damn control of his acolytes then, it wasn't her fault she was awake after all.

She and Skywalker make for the senate, and the boy starts chatting about how great a man Palpatine is. Zannah mostly tunes him out, nodding her head or giving a quick response when prompted. She's more paying attention to how Skywalker talks rather than what he's saying. The boy is firmly in Palpatine's grasp. Subtly trying to peel him away will be tedious and difficult. Not to mention considering how Skywalker runs his mouth and gushes over his current favorite, he'd easily out her influence to the Sith Master when she started overtaking him.

She smiled a little at that. No easy apprentice would have ever been worth it.

Her eyes flicker around and take in the senate building as they move. The rotunda had, evidently, been renovated, but the thing was still mostly the same in structure. Annoyingly though, she was going to need to restart her own information network on what Senator fit where in the grand scheme of things, unless the current Sith Master was willing to 'share' information. Even then, she'd need to double check it, and try to see what had been held back or hidden from her. She believed he wouldn't try to immediately kill her, not until the Grand Plan was done, or at least until she was out of his office at minimum. But she would expect treachery every step of the way.

He would test her at every opportunity, and if he found her wanting, she would be disposed of, if he were capable of the deed.

The deeper they moved into the senate, the closer to the epicenter of the Dark Side they drew. Her skin felt aflame, burning and tingling with the power radiating through the Force. Yet the Jedi didn't have a clue. It was so carefully hidden, shrouded effortlessly. The Dark Side pulsed through the senate building, tendrils and lines of power threaded through the halls, into objects, people, specific rooms. Its almost like an... an attempt by the Sith to create their own version of a Force Nexus. Not nearly as powerful, but the Dark Side was focused here, by the Sith Master's sheer will and power. Its influence... it was corruptive, of everything, and what could not be directly corrupted would be clouded. There would be little that happened here that the Sith Master was not at least somewhat aware of.

She very intently _does not_ try to tap into it. Not yet. She's not going to poach on the current Sith Master's terrain like that, not carelessly anyway. Especially since he would likely be aware of it and not find it amusing. That would be a quick way to get herself in trouble with him, and she's not nearly ready for that. If she's honest, she doesn't really feel ready to meet with him yet. She'd wanted to have more time to observe from afar and learn. Skywalker dragging her to the Chancellor was not quite what she had in mind. She didn't particularly have a reason not to that she could offer him, not without disappointing him on meeting his 'friend'.

She grins slightly. Bringing him to heel and wrangling him was going to be a long, challenging process.

They paused at a receptionist to announce themselves. Zannah briefly gazes around, taking in the very obvious dark red coloring to the walls and the carpeting, and through the doorway to the Chancellor's Office. Nice touch, all in Sith coloring and structure. Right under the nose of the Jedi and... wait... she couldn't quite catch it at this angle, but was that a... a bronzium of one of the Four Sages of Dwartii? He had that kept in _plain sight_?

She dismissed the thought as they were waved in. She fell in a step behind Skywalker, and walked through the door.

Everything faded away.

There was no doorway.

No furniture.

No decoration.

No floor.

No walls.

No ceiling.

No windows.

Everything faded away into the Black Hole in the Force outlined in the shape of a man.

Zannah reflexively swallows back everything she feels in that moment. That sheer moment of pure, unadulterated, _terror_. She blinks once to refocus everything back to the physical, giving skin to the _creature_ in front of them. She has never felt or read about any Sith who has ever felt _anything_ like this, aside from _maybe_ Vitiate. He barely even feels like a sentient lifeform, almost feels like the Sith himself **_IS_ **a Dark Side Nexus given flesh and form. She recognizes instantly how she had vastly underestimated how powerful the Sith had become since her time. The power of merely being in his presence is intoxicating, nauseous, corruptive, and absolutely _destructive_.

Whatever shielding was grounded into this room to contain his presence from her sight was truly impressive. Even inside the room he was so neatly woven into the Dark Side that it took a Sith Master such as herself to even perceive him through it all when he was wrapped in its embrace. But she sorely wishes she hadn't. If she's honest, she wishes she were back in stasis right about now. She is no coward, but she wants to be anywhere but here at the moment getting every concept and notion of what power truly meant shattered. She is not ready for this, hells, she will _never be_ ready for this, not without Skywalker properly trained as her apprentice. She will never be able to directly contest and fight this creature without ridiculously unrealistic setup.

Skywalker moves to the center of the room and bows to the Chancellor who sits at his desk, Zannah briefly fallowing suit for appearance sake. "Chancellor."

The Sith gives the boy a warm grandfatherly smile. "Ah, Anakin, I was hoping they would send you to deliver the report."

And doesn't Skywalker perk up at someone _wanting_ to see him. Except that smile isn't for Skywalker. Its for her, and underneath the outer skin, its condescending and smug as hell. She sees the spite in his eyes. He sees right through her and knows who and what she is, and he had obviously felt her brief fear, and was mocking her for it. There is only faint interest in his eyes, he does not consider her a threat, just entertainment. She straights her spine, reinforces her shields under her false aura of light as much as she possibly can, and narrows her own eyes in warning at him.

She might be completely outclassed, but she will not cower before him.

"So my boy, did I hear right? Ventress is no more?" posed the Chancellor.

Anakin nods, grinning. "That witch is finally gone."

He glanced at Zannah. "Ventress ran into 'ol Rain' here."

"Not that old Skywalker," drawled Zannah, "I'm like... forty-seven."

One good thing about starting with an adult apprentice, coached Cognus for over a decade and then left her for the Holocrons to finish up.

"Older than Obi-Wan."

She kicks his shin, he deserved it.

The Chancellor chuckled. "Well miss...?"

"Rain," she offered.

"Just Rain?"

"Clan names didn't exist on my homeworld."

"Interesting, I suppose I'll have to inquire on that another time, how did you defeat Ventress?"

"She sprung a trap and I ran her through."

The Chancellor slow blinked. "And here I was thinking Anakin here gave the most, _concise,_ reports."

She's not willingly giving him anything more than necessary.

Anakin coughed, flushing a bit. "I'm not that bad..."

The Chancellor gives him a knowing smile. "Would you care to demonstrate then?"

Anakin squints at him, a mock-betrayed look on his face despite it being his own fault for walking into that, but does so. Skywalker makes it seem like a very engaging tale, even when he's mostly bitching about getting swamp muck all over him. Honestly, drylanders, she lived on her homeworld just fine back in the day. Boy probably wouldn't have survived the Bog Cough as a brat.

"That seems rather callus," mused Palpatine after the end, "To set up their '_Jedi Shadow'_ up as bait and then just leave you there when as was said and done."

The undertone made it clear what he thought of her deception. He didn't seem impressed. Petty bastard, the hell was she supposed to do with like .01 seconds planning in a do or die situation like that? Side with the _Acolyte_? That would have been a great way to end up really really _dead_. She was good, but she had literally _just_ woken up, and would have been confronted with two separate _Mandalorian_ clone units, the most powerful Force Sensitive ever, and an apprentice on top of that. All she would have had was a cornered Acolyte. She wasn't placing her bets on Ventress. She would have needed her Sorcery, and hoped it could have incapacitated Skywalker long enough to get the hell out of there until she got herself oriented and situated.

This was the more sure path however.

"I didn't think highly of it either," muttered Anakin, "But, their loss our gain. I think Rain being here will definitely help us in the long run."

"I suppose we will have to wait and see," said Palpatine, looking her over, "You've certainly come out the door strong. Though, you being here does offer another certain historical outlook, tell me, how were politics in your time?"

The face Skywalker makes is exactly what she feels, but she knows where her descendant is going with this: Driving Skywalker off so they can talk alone. So she complies, reciting what she recalled of the senate, their policies, and how the fractured galaxy operated at the time under various Jedi Lords and the Brotherhood of Darkness. She's actually rather impressed that Skywalker lasted ten minutes into their dialogue before he bowed out.

"If you don't mind Chancellor, I think I'll let you and Rain discuss politics while I go check up on a friend."

Palpatine gives him a knowing smile. "Do give Senator Amidala my regards."

Anakin flushes a little before he recovers and bows. "Of course."

Zannah very carefully does not react to the emotions that spill out of Anakin at the name 'Amidala'. She does not like any of them, and feels a headache coming on from yet _another_ tedious complication likely to arise from Skywalker. She and Palpatine keep it up for about a minute after Skywalker leaves, just incase he comes back for some reason, until the conversation slowly trails off and the pair of Sith regard one another. Zannah doesn't have all day however, she will be summoned by the Jedi Council at some point.

She reaches to begin to shroud the room, but Palpatine acts the moment she does, smothering the room in his hidden darkness effortlessly and batting her efforts aside. The arrogant ass.

Both of their eyes bleed yellow seconds later as they let down their masks in the shielded room. After her poor start, she decided to immediately take the lead, and the offensive. "Have you no control of your acolytes, _descendant_? I should not be awake."

Palpatines lips peel into a sneer. "My name, _ancestor_, is Sidious, Darth Sidious, Dark Lord of the Sith."

Oh that was one hell of a name, she'd give Sidious's master credit for that. "The darth and the title is kind of implied. My point still stands."

Keep him on the defensive...

"Ventress was my fool tool's acolyte, had she been mine, and still alive, she would be dead for this foolishness. There was no need to awaken you. Our line is not faltering, nor are your services required to finish the Grand Plan."

Tool? It would seem Dooku was not a true apprentice then, just a stand in.

"Not that your services were called upon the one time they could have been of use either," said Sidious snidely, "The Sith had no use of a coward who ran from death at her apprentice's hand."

Zannah narrows her eyes, her presence flaring and pulsing darkly. "Only two there are, no more no less. While sound in theory, it leaves much to dangerous chance. The premature or accidental death of a Master could have left a apprentice floundering and threatened our line. If Cognus had found me or caught me during setup, I would have accepted death. I did not run from my duty, I shifted it to being a backup plan if it became necessary to restart or repair the Rule of Two."

Then she frowned as she caught what he had said before the insult. "And what do you mean the 'one time I could have been of use'? What _happened_?"

Sidious makes a noise of disgust. "Gravid, a disgrace of the Order of the Sith Lords, not worthy of the title Darth. He tried to blend Jedi and Sith teachings together, drawn to the light while trying to stay in the dark. It drove him mad, and with the loss of his sanity, he destroyed much of the Sith's collection of holocrons, artifacts, and lore..."

"_**HE DID WHAT**_?!" exploded Zannah in furious rage, the room pulsing black in the Force, chill deepening.

Sidious pauses for a moment to sample her fury, his disregard for her slightly lessening. "His apprentice, Darth Gean, managed to stop him from destroying it all, but was grievously injured, and untrained, to the point where she was not a worthy test for her own apprentice. Gravid set us back centuries, the Grand Plan should have been completed well before I was born."

Zannah takes that in for a stunned moment before she hisses, "Why the hell wasn't I awoken after that?! I could have recompiled the knowledge that was lost and completed Gean's training!"

Sidious goes still for a moment, and regards her with something aside from contempt or dark amusement: actual interest and dark desire. "Hmm... that is right, you existed before Gavid destroyed our knowledge. It would appear there is a use for you after all. Some of what was lost was recovered, but not nearly all of it. You could fill in that gap by the time the Jedi are wiped out, the Sith fully restored in their knowledge as the Grand Plan is completed."

"You didn't answer my question," she snaps.

"Because I don't know," admits Sidious, "Its likely Darth Gean did not know you existed. Her training was largely incomplete because of Gavid's incompetence and madness."

"That shouldn't have mattered, I left failsafes that should have led the apprentice to me if the Master died...," muttered Zannah, crossing her arms, before she feels the mocking laughter of the Dark Side, and judging by the brief twitch from Sidious he felt it too. Then, the Dark Side whispers a single name to her:

_Cognus..._

Rage engulfs Zannah. "That little bitch!"

Sidious lets out a soft chuckle. "Well now, if I had to guess, your apprentice did find you, but chose to let you rot in stasis forever rather than kill you. "

Zannah ground her teeth in frustration, all the while she admits to herself she's a little impressed with her apprentice in discovering her and wiping away her failsafes. She underestimated Cognus. Though she is very curious how any of her line even knew about her if Cognus tried to shove her under the rug. "And thus, treachery and betrayal _again_ weakens the Sith."

Sidious hums, whether in thought or agreement she doesn't know.

"You disagree?"

"While you have use, I question your worthiness of your station," said Sidious, sneering at her.

She glared at him. "I _earned_ my position as a Sith Lord."

"So says the so-called Sith Lord who quaked in fear at my mere presence?" mocked Sidious.

Zannah doesn't allow her anger to manifest. Her initial reaction to her descendant hadn't been controlled at all, wasn't befitting of a Dark Lord of the Sith. She had earned the contempt radiating off of Sidious. So she considers her words carefully. "It is one thing to envision the culmination of the Rule of Two, it is another thing entirely out of imagination to witness it given flesh."

Sidious lips turn to a patronizing smile, his words dripping of arrogance, "So I am everything and more than Darth Bane ever thought possible?"

"Bane and I envisioned a powerful Sith, yes, the most powerful ever perhaps," said Zannah without agreeing, "I don't think either of us actually understood what that meant."

He narrows his eyes at her. He caught the slight then. "I'm sure Lord Bane had more understanding than you _assume_."

"You know, for all you seem to want to kiss his boots, you seem to forget that **_I_** defeated him," said Zannah icily.

"After he grew old."

"Oh don't give me that shit," said Zannah flatly, "For one, age is meaningless before the power of the Dark Side, especially on the Force Nexus we fought on. For two, the final part of the confrontation wasn't physical. He kriffing Essence Transferred _into_ _my body_. I killed him in a _soul on soul fight_. No one can deny exactly what that meant for all you seem to prop him up and put me down."

She narrows her eyes in warning. "And before you even hint that he let me win, let me advise you of how stupid that would be for a Sith Lord who could just body hop his way down the line to the death of the Jedi and ruled forever snatching the bodies of his apprentices to let me defeat him."

Sidious looked like he swallowed something sour. "I _suppose_ I can acknowledge that."

"And I suppose I can see what the Sith have lost and fill in the gaps," she grudgingly offers as a token of armistice, "I will also make plain that I have no interest in endangering the Grand Plan. I will not challenge you nor interfere in a way that would risk the ruination of all our efforts, unless you try to directly kill me of-course."

She will not challenge him until the Grand Plan was finished, that is. But Skywalker was fair game before then.

She allows her shields to briefly dip, and Sidious is a brief mixture of surprised/suspicious, and cautiously senses for the truth in her words, expecting a trap. There is none except for the deception hidden in the truth of her words. She wont endanger all of their efforts on petty infighting. He pulls back and slowly nods, considering her for a long moment.

"I will gather a listing of what knowledge we have and alter the shielding of one of my storehouses for you to sense in a week," says Sidious, "There, I will leave that list for you to view."

"I will look at it, though it is likely I am going to have to run through a few hoops dealing with the Jedi and not be able to devote the required effort to filling in the gaps for some time," she said in disdain, "Ventress gave me less than a second to think when she woke me up. The whole 'I'm a Jedi Shadow' bit was on the spot. Honestly, the idiocracy, the Jedi were right there!"

It also makes sure that if he wants all of what she knows to be given, he will not try to kill her preemptively.

"Hmph," grunted Sidious, "I would have thought you would have been able to slip out regardless."

"Yeah, if I wanted to be hunted down after with no knowledge of when I was let along the circumstances or if there was even a ship to steal," answered Zannah, "This way draws less direct suspicion, and because I've already made my dislike of the Jedi of this day and age clear, should I ever decide to '_leave_' their Order, it wont be as questioned."

He gives a slow nod. "Still, they will pit you against the plans of the Sith as best they can."

"Probably, but that's what personal comlink codes are for," she said, giving him a sly look.

He scoffed. "You expect me to do your work for you?"

"No, but I expect you to know what has to be maintained that I can choose to fail at, and what can serve as a calculated sacrifice," rebutted Zannah, "Speaking of which, I'd like if you let me know the moment you don't need Dooku alive anymore. I want to take Ventress's idiocy out of his _hide_."

"Dooku has his uses, and his death is one of them," he said in warning, "As a test for my future apprentice."

Ah... it was time.

"Oh?" she said, moving to sit in the chair across from him, crossing one leg over another, "Found a winner then? It'll be interesting to actually compare apprentices with another of my line."

He stares at her with an air of incredulity. "You cannot be that blind."

She raises an eyebrow at him. "I woke up days ago under the eyes of Jedi, I've barely investigated anything yet."

"He is the most powerful Force Sensitive ever born, the perfect servant," said Sidious dryly, contempt for her in his voice, "You spent the last few days with him. From what I could tell, you spent them _currying_ favor."

She forces her emotions to mirror his own incredulity and begins the most deadly game of her life, all the while the phrase 'perfect servant' starts to set something uneasy in her gut. "You... you can't be serious. _Skywalker_? You want that whinny little bitch as your apprentice?"

Sidious slow blinks at her, eyebrows climbing. "You _disapprove_?"

"There is more to a Sith Lord than pure power, and he has far to many issues to work in the long run," said Zannah in disdain, "That 'favor currying' puts me in place to kill him when he least expects it if need be."

"I find myself curious," said Sidious slowly, "What do you think makes him unfit to be a Sith? Don't waste either of our time with failings that can be beaten or trained out of him."

"His past as a slave could have served him as a source of anger and hate," said Zannah, "Instead, he whines for _mommy_. He is traumatized by it if he lets himself dwell. He actually cried on my shoulder when I pushed and he admitted to considering himself a child of rape."

Sidious's nose wrinkled in distaste, a tsk escaping his lips. "I'm surprised he admitted that to you. Prying into his past as a slave is, at times, like pulling teeth."

"Never underestimate the power of a pretty sympathetic female face," said Zannah mockingly.

Sidious scoffed.

Zannah grinned. "It works far more often than you'd think."

"I suppose being born female has _some_ uses."

Did he just... _really_? Disregarding and underestimating almost half the damn galaxy over something petty like gender was ridiculous. Bane sure as hell never had that issue. Whatever, his loss her gain, she merely gives him an unimpressed look. "As opposed to being born male with something squishy hanging between your legs to be kicked or crushed that cripples you in agony?"

He returns the unamused look.

They stare down eachother for a few moments longer before returning to the previous topic.

"You truly don't believe Skywalker would serve well?" posed Sidious, skeptical.

"Ignoring that his opposition to slavery could cause issues with Sith rule, his attachments are his biggest problem," she said, truthful in that while hiding her desire behind deception, "They will always pull at his loyalty to the Sith."

"Such attachments can be severed," said Sidious.

"Skywalker is a needy little shit," she said flatly, "If you strip his attachments away, he will merely find more because he cannot truly live without them, and while I see that you have planted yourself as an attachment to him, that will not survive long should he temporarily find himself your apprentice."

"I did not particularly hate Bane, not until the stupid shit he pulled towards the end, but there was no comradery or love between us," said Zannah, "Any '_friendship_' you two have will not last. Sith have no use of _friends_."

Sidious regards Zannah for a long minute, eyes betraying nothing nor his shrewd face. Finally, he allows a small frown to show. "Perhaps it requires a step back and perusal of options, one cannot be to careful in the selection of an apprentice, but I do believe he still will provide the most useful tool out of what is available. A dark enforcer of my will while I rule the galaxy."

Zannah careful does not react to his words. _Tool_? _Enforcer_? The way Sidious said that... it fills here with a sense of unease and wariness. Apprentices were tools, yes, but they were also legacy. The continuation of their line. Zannah might have not died by going into stasis, she had honestly kind of done it on a whim, but there was no greater success and proof of a Sith Master's greatness than their apprentice finally overtaking them. Anakin would be her apprentice, but unlike last time, she was not going to survive to go back into stasis. He would become far to ready, and far to powerful, very quickly. To the point she was concerned he would surpass and kill her before she could teach him enough to actually be considered a proper Sith Apprentice, let alone Lord or Master.

The sensation Sidious gives off... does not share that same vibe. Not even close. Ventress had not awoken her by Sidious's will, that was definitely for certain. It was possible she had come on her own, but Zannah doesn't believe that. She believes Ventress had been _sent_, likely by Dooku. She needs to locate and interrogate the current active '_apprentice_'. Something is amiss, it almost... almost sounds like Sidious does not want a real, actual apprentice...

"I can't really say otherwise," said Zannh, "I haven't seen more than the boy's direct lineage. Kenobi is too sickeningly light for his own good, and Skywalker's apprentice is a brat."

Sidious hummed with that. "Kenobi has potential in certain regards, but yes, the effort to try and actually turn him is either not likely to work, or would require breaking him and rebuilding him from the ground up, a pointless endeavor when there are so many more to chose from."

"From what I've read of him, Dooku would have actually served as a decent tool rather than a stand in if he wasn't even older than you were," she said dryly, poking at Sidious's decision, "As an apprentice though..."

Sidious scoffed. "Dooku still has far to much _Jedi_ in him to truly serve in the long run. He still, honestly, believes that I intend for him to live through the war. That would only happen as an absolute last resort should every other potential worthwhile apprentice fail."

Zannah chuckled. "Blind to the end. Seeing the look in his eyes when he realizes the truth might be worth staying my hand."

They both share a sadistic conspiratorial grin, the Dark Side pulsing with shared malice between them, a brief euphoric feedback loop of dark delight.

Sidious hummed briefly, eyes half closed, savoring the sensation. "Its been quite some time since I was last in the presence of another actual Dark Lord of the Sith."

"How long ago did you succeed your Master?"

"A little over a decade."

She nodded thoughtfully. "You learned what you needed from him, you had the chancellorship, and you were ready."

"I could have used him a few more years," admitted Sidious, "There were a few of his... abilities, that I have not mastered that I had the desire to. However, his ridiculous desire for co-chancellorship when his public persona was not a politician, let alone a senator, and had been secluded in his laboratories experimenting for most of the last few decades of his life was absurd and could have caused extensive problems and questioning."

The last part was spoken in a snarl, Zannah raised an eyebrow, "He left the legwork _solely_ to you?"

"Mostly," corrected Sidious with grudging admission, "But yes, he preferred to waste time with his experiments while I set up the political sphere. Its not to say he did not give his input or direction on certain events, but he had started to grow... _complacent, _and that was the end of him. He practically begged me to kill him with how easy it was to snuff him out."

Zannah scoffed and shook her head. "Bane started delving into holocrons towards the end, but he still carried his weight, and honestly, I understood the holocron bit, leaving behind one's knowledge for future use, a more... personal legacy, rather than our descendants. Have you given thought to your own Holocron yet?"

A patronizing smile crossed his face. "Perhaps when the Jedi are dead, the Republic converted into an Empire, and I have proper tools to delegate to, I can devote the time to one, but not yet."

She nods. "Fair."

"I'm also curious if I can find the Telos Holocron instead of crafting my own, there have been a few rumors I've been interested in investigating but haven't the time."

Zannah's eyebrows climb. "Ambitious of you."

Sidious scoffed before slowly he stands and moves to the window, gazing out across Coruscant, to the Jedi Temple, and Zannah moves to stand beside him. "I've seen it, in visions, the Temple burning, the Force screaming as the Jedi die. Its so close to the proper time, I can _feel it_."

"How far are we from execution?"

"Oh, I can execute at will," he answered, smugly satisfied, "I'm merely waiting for the Republic to become more... disenfranchised with the Senate and the Jedi, but more importantly, a proper apprentice."

She slow blinked. He's already set up? Completely? She's not sure if she'd have the discipline to have the death of the Jedi Order at her fingertips and hold off. "Just as an FYI, I'm not interested in becoming an apprentice again."

"You were the first apprentice, I was the last," said Sidious, "I have no interest in taking you into that position."

The last? Again his word choice tugs uncomfortably with her. "Good."

He gives her a considerate look. "Your potential place within _my_ Empire will depend on your worthiness and abilities. Your past deeds, while they may have set up our line for the future, are where they lay, in the past. You prove yourself here and now, or you _will_ be disposed of Lord Zannah. Am I clear?"

"I suspected as much," was all she answered.

He nodded. "One such use will be Skywalker. I will take a step back from him being my confirmed choice and observe, I will _thoroughly_ have him tested, and I want you to observe and report on these tests. I do believe the phrase is, '_the gloves come off_'. I'm sure Dooku will be thrilled to have me retract my orders to preserve Skywalker's life."

"You held Skywalker's hand that much?" asked Zannah, just a tad incredulous.

A Sith Apprentice should regularly be tested with life and death situations to make them show their merit. She's more than willing to watch and observe these tests, if only to make sure Skywalker _**IS** _the right choice.

"He has been placed in many situations more meant to push him towards the dark or cause tension between him and the Jedi Council," said Sidious, "The intent was to turn him, not kill him."

He smiles fondly in remembrance. "Oh, his emotions after being forced to save the Hutt's child were delicious. A slave saving the child of a slaver."

He chuckles darkly. "Such delights."

Ouch, Zannah almost feels bad for Skywalker. Well... not really. She snickers. "You were named appropriately, Sidious."

Sidious smiles patronizingly. "I know."

* * *

"And I never _really_ thought I'd find another Jedi just like me," said Anakin, "Well, a little harsher when she really goes off, but hey, she had to deal with Sith a lot more then we do."

Padme smiled briefly at him before refocusing on her datapad, you know, her actual work that Anakin knew he was distracting her from, but she was honestly to strung out sometimes. Needed to take a break now and then. "I'm glad you found a friend."

"Oh Force, you sound like Obi-wan when I told him."

She laughed. "Maybe because we both agree?"

He crossed his arms petulantly, grumbling, "Not my fault most are holier than thou look down their noses at me assholes."

"Anakin!"

He smiles a little. "Not a lot were like Darra and..."

He cut off with a grimace. Force... it had been a long while since he had thought of his old dead friend... dead because of _him_.

"Anakin?"

He shook his head sharply, lips pursed.

Padme, bless her, didn't press, instead she hums thoughtfully in consideration. "I'm moderately curious about the legalities of it all with Rain."

Anakin blinked. "The-_what_?"

"The Ruusan Reformation reshaped both the Jedi and the Republic, Anakin," she answered, "She comes from a period of the Jedi Order that had not yet agreed to any reformations or concessions as the current Order did, as such, neither has she. She is a Jedi, yes, but legally... I don't think Rain actually answers to the Senate, or even your own Council, unless she agrees to accept being incorporated into the Order as a whole and the rules and restrictions that come with it. I'd have to actually talk with someone more versed in technicalities and law than I am to be sure."

That was... oh. Well... Rain would probably like that, wouldn't she? "Well, I can probably kiss getting her assigned to the 501st goodbye then. Tch."

Padme slowly looks up, a slight frown on her face. "You... wanted her assigned with you?"

"Well yeah, she'd be awesome to fight alongside."

"You two seem to have hit it off really well," said Padme quietly.

Anakin frowns a little, not sure what to make of the emotions coming from her. "Yeah?"

"Should I be jealous?" she asks, uncertain honesty pulsing off her.

Anakin slow blinks. _What_? She thinks he would do that to her? Rain was hot for an older woman, yeah anyone would admit that, but Padme was his _angel_. "Padme, I'm married to you!"

"That hasn't stopped others."

"I'm not others," he said sharply, a little hurt, "Where is this coming from, Angel?"

"It's just... she can understand and work with you in ways I can't because of the Force."

"Padme, a lot of the reasons I love you is because you don't _have_ the Force," he said deadpan, "I can... just be _normal_ around you, can actually feel around you without you getting mental whiplash through the Force or me getting talked down to for having _feelings_, and that's... that one of the greatest reliefs I've had since... since I lived with mom."

His heart melted and the hurt went away when she gave him that shy smile he'd never seen her give others, not even her handmaidens, just reserved for _him_. "I'm sorry for doubting, I'm... if I'm honest, I've dated once or twice, but I've never gotten anywhere in a relationship before like this. There's a lot of uncertainty with it all for me."

"Well, me neither."

She laughed a little. "I do love you Anakin, I wouldn't chose another over you, and you wouldn't chose another over me. Honestly, even if you died I couldn't imaging falling in love again anytime soon, decades maybe if I ever could."

That was... scarily sweet and honest yet... something in him twisted at the thought of Padme being so unhappy for so many years because of _him_. He'd want to be grieved for, yeah, but... not if it destroyed his Angel. Never if it destroyed his Angel. He'd die in a heartbeat for her, even if it was to only make her happy. He would have died for his mom if he could have to see her live. "Make me a promise, Angel."

She blinked. "A promise?"

"I'm... I'm not going to say I'm unkillable," he admits quietly, "I'm aware every day I'm on the front it could be my last. If I do die, grieve, but... but don't be afraid to live again. I wouldn't want you to be unhappy for so long because of me."

She full on stares at him in astonishment. "When did you grow up Anakin?"

He gives her a glare. "Hey!"

She smiles with a mixture of warmth and sadness at him. "I just..., didn't think I hear something like that from you."

Owch. That smarts. He knows he's not the most romantic guy around (_flirting using sand as a metaphor still makes him cringe to think back on_), but still! He'd tried hard right there!

She giggles at the expression on his face. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend, I'm proud of you."

Okay, okay, he'd forgive her this one time for that.

"I'll make the promise, but only if you do in turn," she answered.

His heart skipped a beat at the mere notion of Padme dying. "You're in a lot less danger than I am."

She raised an eyebrow. "How many times has Gunray tried to kill me again?"

Okay... point kind of taken.

"We both know that we're going to lose our positions once it gets out we're married," she said softly, "I accepted that, if I can help settle the war through politics, then I've done my service, and... and I know you're not happy in the Order, that's been apparent to me since we got married, so I honestly think leaving after the war to start a family would make you happy. If I die Anakin, promise me you'll find a reason to be happy again. Whether its a person or a cause, promise me you'll leave the Order and be happy."

Anakin swallowed thickly, throat and lips so dry. "Padme..."

She looks at him with those eyes of hers, and Anakin can't imagine living without her. He is still getting to know Ashoka, and sometimes Obi-Wan is so distant, she's all he has after mom died. "I..."

She waits, she doesn't press, doesn't try to Force him, she asked him as he had asked her. "I..."

"I promise."

Force, why did it feel like he tore his own heart out to say that?

She smiles at him, gets up, and moves to pull him into a hug. "Mmm, we should do this more often."

"Do... do what? Hug?"

"Talk," she said, laughing, "Serious talk as a couple. We've had so little time since the war began we kind of just push it aside to simply be together. But... taking care of important conversations is... hard, but fulfilling."

That's not _quite_ how he'd phrase that promise exchange.

"Now if only I could get the Chancellor to sit down and have meaningful dialogue..."

Anakin groaned. "Way to ruin the mood Padme."

She laughed and separated, a charming smile his way a treat for him before moving back to her desk.

Except... despite that smile, he can feel she's serious. "I thought you liked the Chancellor?"

"He was one of my early mentors," she said diplomatically.

And while Anakin might not be the smartest womp rat in the desert, he had spent enough time around Obi-Wan and Padme to spot that obvious of a non-answer. "And...?"

"I'm just... concerned for him," said Padme, "Power is a dangerous and addictive thing, and the Senate is starting to practically pile emergency power after emergency power on him. At the rate they're going he'll have the legal power to rewrite the constitution in a year or two. I'm not... I'm not _accusing_ him of anything, Anakin, I'm just worried of the power going to his head, him getting... comfortable with it. He hasn't after all refused a single one yet."

"The Chancellor is a good man," said Anakin, trying not to take a flat tone, Force he wished his few friends and family would all just get along, "He wouldn't abuse his power without just cause, and even **_IF_ **he did, he'd have you there to nag-_nugde_ him back on the right path."

She raised an unimpressed eyebrow at him. "Pardon me, _Knight Skywalker_, but did you just say I _nag_?"

Oh kriff...

"Umm..."

"Guess who gets the couch tonight!"

Ah dammit... "Me?"

"Mhm, well...," she reflected, slowly moving to sit ontop of her desk, one leg crossed over the other, _that_ look on her face, "I can be persuaded otherwise with showers of love and affection."

Anakin flicked his wrist and locked the door, smilingly wryly at her. "Of course, my most beautiful and beloved Angel."

Rain and Palpatine would probably be talking politics for awhile, he had plenty of time to '_earn_' forgiveness. If it happened to be enjoyable for the both of them? All the better...


End file.
